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Pretty Good

As Good As It Gets

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

I should preface this review by saying that I'm a huge fan of Dean Martin. But I think I can be objective, and there are films of his (e.g., "Artists And Models" and the later Matt Helm flicks) that are not so hot. But this 1955 comedy is one of the Martin & Lewis films on the high side. The co-stars are second rate -- Diana Lynn, Nina Foch, and Raymond Burr (two years before he hit it big with "Perry Mason" and became a television staple).In this film, Wilbur Hoolick (Jerry Lewis) is a frustrated barber's apprentice who spends most of his time sweeping the shop. There are some funny bits when Bob Miles (Dean Martin) visits the barbershop for a trim. But before that, Raymond Burr's character steals the Majuba Diamond and hides it is Miles' pocket. Wilbur, who appears to have inadvertently gotten the diamond, is sent by Burr to Burr's wife's apartment to give her a hair-do...merely a plot to secure the diamond, which fails.Wilbur is forced to leave town...again, inadvertently with the diamond. He doesn't have enough fare for the train to Blitzen, Washington so he finagles a boy's sailor suit so he can pose as a child for half fare. Okay, so it's goofy...but this is that kind of comedy. Wilbur as an 11 year old is pretty far-fetched, but he ends up on the train...sitting next to Burr...and ends up in Dean's girlfriend's train cabin....scared of the thunderstorm. And starts the gossip back at the school where Martin and his girlfriend teach.Once at the girl's school, things get out of hand with Wilbur falling in love with Martin's girl, but unable to be the adult he really is.There's a great finale, with some lake-speedboat photography that's surprisingly realistic.Dean has a couple of good romantic songs of the style popular back then -- "Like I Do" and, particularly the romantic "Sympatico". Dean and Jerry are hilarious in "I Like To Hike", with a large chorus. I'm not a Jerry Lewis fan, but there were times he was so good...and this is one of them.This film was re-released in 1964...right after Dean Martin hit big with "Everybody Loves Somebody".

You're Never Too Young is a remake of 1942 film The Major and the Minor (which itself is based on a play). Only with a gender change. It's directed by Norman Taurog and supporting Martin & Lewis are Diana Lynn, Nina Foch & Raymond Burr. Plot sees the duo caught up in a diamond robbery that entails Lewis posing as a 12 year old schoolboy to flee from the pursuing Burr. Tale unfolds at a girls school where confusion and romance reigns.It's the same with other famous comedy double acts on the big screen, be it Laurel & Hardy, Abbott & Costello, Hope & Crosby or this here pair of Martin & Lewis; there's never a definitive movie that's considered the best from the output. You're Never Too Young has many fans, some of whom proclaim it to be the best film they made. Personally speaking I think it's OK as a time filler, but actually one of their weakest colour productions; and certainly inferior to the great Artists & Models released the same year.Casting aside the preposterous notion at the heart of the film, since this is slapstick comedy after all, the support cast is weak (Lynn arguably the worst female support in all their movies and Burr underused) and the gags are few and far between. It's weakly plotted and half heartedly performed by Martin, even the Schwartz/Cahn musical numbers lack sparkle (yes even Dino's lukewarm rendition of Simpatico). The colour photography from Daniel L. Fapp is most appealing, as is Edith Head's costuming. But no! Even as an ardent fan of their work, I just can't agree this is anything but distinctly average. 5/10

Considered the best of the Martin and Lewis comedies, this remake of "The Major and The Minor" (with Lewis in the Ginger Rogers role as an adult disguised as a child to qualify for a half-fare train ticket) improves on the original with a never ending romp of slap-stick humor, musical comedy numbers, and color. Diana Lynn, who plays a teacher, played the teenage roommate to Ginger Rogers in the original. Diana Lynn also starred in Martin and Lewis' debut films "My Friend Irma" and "My Friend Irma Goes To New York." Lewis as a boy is never really believable, but that's okay, it's meant as a spoof of anyone who has tried to pass off an older child as younger for half fare tickets. Most important, the humor is very, very fast and funny. Despite some nice musical moments between Dean and Jerry, there is no mistaking this is Jerry's tour-de-farce, and the reason for their split up obvious. Enjoy the pinnacle of their partnership.

I liked this movie. Jerry Lewis was a great kid in it. Jerry Lewis is one of the best comedians of the century.