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The Paul Simon Special
Paul Simon just wants to perform his songs although an arrogant director keeps on interrupting him with crazy ideas.
| Release : | 1977 |
| Rating : | 6.9 |
| Studio : | Above Average Productions, Peregrine Productions, |
| Crew : | Camera Operator, Director, |
| Cast : | Paul Simon Chevy Chase Shelley Duvall Art Garfunkel Charles Grodin |
| Genre : | Comedy Music TV Movie |
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Reviews
What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.
It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.
Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.
All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
When Paul Simon met Lorne Michaels during the mid '70s, they became good friends pretty fast. In fact, Lorne-who had just created a show called "Saturday Night Live" though it was originally called "NBC's Saturday Night" (because of ABC's "Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell" being on the air at the time)-had Paul on as host/musical guest on the second show with that ep mostly being a music show. So a couple of years later, Lorne then produced this, Simon's own network special for prime time. This one satirizes the backstage goings-on between the star and the producer who is named Chuck here and is played by Charles Grodin. Chuck does things like having footage of an audience of elderly people at possibly a political rally (they wave at inappropriate moments) applauding Paul (since the actual audience he performed in front of weren't numerically large enough), making Simon and Art Garfunkel do a corny banter before their number "Old Friends", and suggesting naming the show "The Paul "Bridge Over Troubled Water" Simon Special" because of possibilities of the other Paul Simons (a painter and a politician) also having a show! There's also a funny sketch with former "SNL"er Chevy Chase (I can't help thinking audio of his "dolphins" doing a Bee Gees song is actually him!), some good advice from Lily Tomlin, and plenty of great Paul Simon performances like "Loves Me Like a Rock" with the Jessy Dixon singers, "Still Crazy After All These Years", the aforementioned "Old Friends", and "The Boxer" among other songs. I wish the YouTube version I saw had the ending credits but otherwise, I highly enjoyed The Paul Simon Special.
