#BURLY MEN AT SEA TITLE SCREEN HOW TO#
#BURLY MEN AT SEA TITLE SCREEN MOVIE#
#BURLY MEN AT SEA TITLE SCREEN PLUS#

Lee Evans is absolutely haunting as the tortured comic genius, the natural comic who is so purely a comedian that he can barely communicate except in gags, yet who will never be allowed to perform in public because of his dark past. Not really a comedy - more a surreal, sometimes weirdly comic piece about comedians, about families, about the awfulness of having a famous father, about genius, about the problem of what makes a comic funny, about the sublime sadness of failure.

#BURLY MEN AT SEA TITLE SCREEN PLUS#

'Funny Bones' may be hard to fathom but I think it repays attention by giving its audience something a bit unexpected - plus some great performances along the way. The strongest scenes though are the ones which truly shock - the flashback outlining the tragedy that has affected Jack's life, and the final few sequences in the show arena. The really interesting aspects of the story are the skeletons in the closet that bring Jack's mother (Leslie Caron) and Tommy's father (Jerry Lewis) together again. Against this backdrop is something about mysterious eggs which hold some mystical secret or other (giving Oliver Reed yet another strange role as the oddball Dolly).

#BURLY MEN AT SEA TITLE SCREEN HOW TO#

This is a story of a broken family and hidden secrets - Tommy Fawkes goes to Blackpool, once one of the world's showbiz capitals, to learn how to be funny once there he finds a duo (played by veteran British comics Freddie Davies and George Carl) who he thinks have stolen his famous dad's act - but are things really as they seem? Jack Parker is a Blackpool born lad with the innate ability to be creatively humorous (Lee Evans is excellent in this role) while lacking in the social skills to survive in the real world. I do have to say from the outset that I really like this film, disjointed though it is, perhaps because it is so different. The best part of the film is watching (in small parts) the unravelling of the horrific event that had happened so many years before and turned the young man (played by Lee Evans) into the person he is today.

This film is very representative of the small town in Britain with it's quiet undisturbed population that seems to be frozen in time, in contrast to Fawkes's father's life in America, which is busy and ever-changing, where the most important thing in life is money, as opposed to memories being just as important back in the small British town. Lee Evans was also unbelievably riveting in his portrayal as the mentally disturbed young man. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the intriguing Mr.Fawkes. This is undoubtedly one of Oliver Platt's best roles. The ever present ocean seems to add to the sound quality as if the viewer were really there, experiencing what actually happened. What I thought was amateurish about it turned out to be the sound. At first it seemed to have an amateurish quality about it, but this turned out not to be true. When I first saw this film I thought that it was brilliant. And stay with it, even if the first half hour is not to your liking. I would just say if you are looking for something different, give this a try.

There is really is no way to adequately explain this strange film in a few paragraphs.

The comedy is really provided by others, most notably the most tragic figure in the film: 'Jack Parker,' effectively played by Lee Evans. Oliver Platt plays his son, and does an outstanding job as the main figure in this film. Also in here is another example of how good comedians can be in dramatic roles, in this case, veteran comic Jerry Lewis. It kept me on my toes, so to speak, even with those multiple viewings.

#BURLY MEN AT SEA TITLE SCREEN MOVIE#

The movie goes back and forth between drama and comedy which makes unsettling for some viewers, but not me. It's just an odd mix, but I find it very, very interesting and I've seen it three times, equally fascinated each time. It's a bizarre combination of humor and tragedy, of supernatural and straight drama. Here is one more somewhat-unknown film I wish got more notice, although I'm not sure how many would like it because it's so different.

Burly men at sea title screen