Popeye (1980)

Robert Altman was just the right director to bring "Popeye" to live action. His use of naturalistic, overlapping and mumbled speech patterns, used to such good effect in "M*A*S*H," is the perfect fit for the residents of the shanty town of Sweethaven. Along with his production crew, he expertly reconstructs the environs and reanimates the zany spirit of the early black and white Popeye cartoons, the ones before Popeye was cleaned up and turned into a tool of U.S. war propaganda. Robin Williams carries off the title role with expert skill in a performance that he, especially he, very easily could have gone over the top with. Shelley Duvall as Olive Oyl and the kid who played Swee'Pea are likewise letter perfect for their roles.

One of the things I always liked about this movie is the music. Harry Nilsson, a greatly underappreciated talent, came up with a delightful batch of songs that are that are as rich in character as the atmosphere of Sweethaven is full of sodium. Altman's "Popeye," along with Warren Beatty's "Dick Tracy," is one of the rare film versions of a cartoon that succeeds. It does so by staying true to the look and spirit of the original. It wasn't created by committee to be a summer blockbuster, hence it is allowed to have a personality and flavor -- a flavor that blooms with repeat viewings.

Fmovies: I feel so content to see that viewers' opinions about "Popeye" are changing. I liked this motion picture since its release and just as someone else mentions here, I sit and watch it again whenever it's playing on television. I was a fan of Popeye's cartoons when a kid, and as a grown up I have become an indeclinable admirer of the films of Robert Altman, who I consider one of the greatest directors of American cinema. As someone wrote in a review of "Dr T. & the Women", Altman is a genre by himself. One may go to see an Altman comedy, but it is better to be warned that one must emphasize the director's name instead of the genre. This is indeed a film version of a comic-strip character, but I believe "Popeye" is mainly Altman's (and writer-cartoonist Jules Feiffer's) vision of Utopia in a town by the sea called Sweethaven, where "Flags are waving wet people from the sea, safe from democracy, sweeter than a melon tree" (lyrics to "Sweethaven", an anthem by Harry Nilsson). It is a love postcard from the filmmaker to his fellow Americans, who so far have preferred to follow the critics' failed opinions about his work, or his peers' disdain when the time comes to give out awards. And then Sweethaven is also more than that: it is Altman's surrealistic vision of humanity dealing with its basic emotions and needs. For the recreation of a world where "God must love us" (Op. cit.), Wolf Kroeger created marvelous sets in Malta, photographed by Giuseppe Rotunno (the magician of light who captured so many of Fellini's clowns and buffoons), peopled with a cast giving its best and to the rhythm of simple, sweet and affectionate songs by Nilsson, that seem more than appropriate for this universe --I do not agree with negative opinions about the songs: they are in complete atonement with the spirit of the film and cartoons. (Do you remember Olive singing "I Want a Clean, Shaven Man"?) What I find disturbing about the film is its sudden change of mood, from observation of people's strength and foibles, into an action movie. It makes me wonder if "Popeye" was severely cut by its distributors. In the soundtrack album, there are songs never heard in the movie. It would be great to see a restored version of "Popeye". But there are many wonderful things about it as it is, that I can pass the deficiencies. For example, one of my favorite scenes is Popeye's first dinner with the Oyls: it is pure Altman, with overlapping dialogues and his brand of humor all over the place. Then you have the whole engagement sequence, with Olive escaping from home as she sings "He's Large", meeting Popeye and finding Swee'pea, while Bluto destroys her house. All the humanity contained in the "cartoonish" frame makes me love this film. I just can't help it.

The first time I saw "Popeye," I though it cluttered visually and audially, not believable, and downright silly. When I later realized it was meant to be viewed as a "living cartoon," I did a 180 on it.

The visual clutter I began to see instead as the delightful and detailed set that was Sweethaven - "early demolition," indeed! That, combined with a rich selection of both staple Popeye secondary characters like Wimpy and new ones like The Taxman formed a fitting backdrop against which the interaction of the main characters takes place. Some of the audial clutter was simply Robin Williams duplicating with uncanny accuracy the verbal ramblings and running "dialog" that Popeye always had going on in the cartoon shorts (can't imagine anyone other than him in the role).

And, bits" too numerous to mention, pulled right from the cartoons, add to the fun. Bluto "seeing red" is just an example.

A sadly under-appreciated movie, to be sure. If you loved the cartoon shorts, you'll get what should prove to be a satisfying dose of live action duplication with "Popeye."

Popeye fmovies. This is one of my all time favorites. It is both over the top and subtle. There is so much going on...that you can watch it many times and see something new each time. The acting, the sets, the costumes and most of all Harry Nielsen's music, give so many layers to this underrated movie. Shelley Duval's song, He's Large, is such a gem. She can say nothing positive about her beau...much as she tries and wants to impress her friends...except that...he is large!

I never saw this movie until last week. "Better late than never," I guess, because I liked it. I thought it was good and....in a very different way. I had known of this film for a long time but did not realize it was a musical. That didn't excite me, but I wound up enjoying most of the music because it was only done in short segments and the songs were decent. None were excellent, but none were awful, either.

Popeye was fun to hear. Robin Williams had Popeye's mumbling down to a tee. I suggest you watch this with the English subtitles on so you can get all of what Popeye says, or you'll miss a lot of funny lines because of his mumbling. The same can almost be said of Shelly Duvall's impersonation of "Olive Oyl," although you can understand her better. She, too, was fun to watch. I read somewhere that she was very depressed over her performance in this film, but she shouldn't have been. She was perfect for the role.

I didn't think the supporting characters were much, such as Bluto or Wimpy, but Popeye's dad, "Poopdeck Pappy," (Ray Walston) who appears late in the film is a real hoot, and little baby "Swee Pea" is cute. "Pappy" adds a lot of spark and energy to the film, just when it was really needed. My only concern was that it was a really clean movie up to then and Walston changes that, although not with anything really harsh but a number of "let's haul ass" statements and the like.

However, overall, it's a nice, pleasing type of film. It's no award-winner, but it's a lot better than what you might have read from national critics. If you like Popeye's cartoons and comics, you should like this film, too. I would gladly watch this again.

Robert Altman's "Popeye" is a film to be lauded for its production design and performances. Altman took obvious care in bringing the town of Sweethaven and its residents to life . . . notice the bustling activity, the individual characterizations, and even the big, cartoony special effects (e.g. - Bluto blowing smoke from his ears) that both pay homage to the original "Popeye" and separate it as a new direction for the story.

This well-known story is brought to life by the actors in it, most notably Robin Williams as Popeye and Shelley Duvall as Olive Oyl. Robin Williams, complete with immense forearms and squinting eyes, gruffly plows through his adventures with the same tough sensitivity we've come to love from the character over the years. And Shelley Duvall . . . is simply astounding. She BECOMES Olive Oyl. Her gestures, her speech patterns, her gliding walk . . . it has to be seen! Duvall literally transforms herself into a living cartoon, one we care about more and more as the picture runs its course.

"Popeye" is a great conversion, from the comic strip to cartoon to film. With added depth and atmosphere, it remains an underrated classic appropriate for those willing to be transported by art to a fantasy land far , far away.