Writer/Director: Stanley Tucci
Editor: Suzy Elmiger
Cinematographer: Ken Kelsch
Maurice: Oliver Platt
Arthur: Stanley Tucci
Jeremy Burtom: Alfred Molina
Lily: Lili Taylor
Happy Franks: Steve Buscemi
Queen (Veiled Woman): Isabella Rossellini
Sparks: Billy Connolly
and many more! |
"The Impostors" is a fast moving farce that incorporates all the tried and true tricks of film comedy and makes them its own. This is the second feature from Stanley Tucci. His 1996 film "Big Night" was a delightful story of two immigrant brothers who seek to introduce Americans to the ultimate in Italian cuisine. "Big Night" was funny and heartwarming, "The Impostors" is much broader comedy but exhibits the same deft touch both visually and verbally.
Maurice (Oliver Platt) and Arthur (Stanley Tucci) are two out of work actors, and actors as we all know are always pretending to be someone else. A series of misadventures finds them "trapped" on a 1930s cruise ship along with their hated rival, the successful but repulsive actor Jeremy Burtom and a shipload of people, each with their own special secrets. Watch out for Billy Connolly who makes a meal of his role as Sparks, a tennis pro with an eye for the men; and Isabella Rossellini as the deposed Queen who hides behind a veil and bemoans her fate to the accompaniment of suitably melodramatic music.
"The Impostors" works on every level: the jokes are visual, musical, physical and verbal. No opportunity for laughter is overlooked. Intertitles and music remind us of the days of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin; snappy dialogue brings echoes of the magic of the Marx Brothers; there's all the craziness of Bing Crosby and Bob Hope in any one of the Road Movies; and watch out, or should I say listen up, for a new twist on that famous last line from "Some Like It Hot"!
Tucci and Platt are wonderful as the two protagonists - one short and slender, a thinker and a talker; the other big, friendly and loyal. Their supporting cast is equally impressive, amongst them Teagle F Bougere as The Sheik with a passion for his gramophone and dancing; Steve Buscemi as Happy Franks, the unhappy singer; Alfred Molina as the repulsive Jeremy Burtom; and Lili Taylor as the head stewardess Lily. And the film looks great!
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