The Impostors (1998)

This movie is a wonderful inside joke about the art of acting. The characters are wonderfully over the top and hilariously brought to life by a funny script and fabulous cast, who obviously had a great time making this movie. Who wouldn't? Every time I see it, and I see it often, it makes me smile. Another reviewer aptly observed that if you are expecting the typical formulaic Hollywood "comedy", this ain't the picture for you. So true. This is closer to pure French Farce. Written and directed with much love for, and a great sense of humor about everything associated with theater and acting. Bravo Mr. Tucci.I know it didn't make a lot of money, but I hope you write and direct more. You are wasted in pictures like "Burlesque".

Fmovies: The working title SHIP OF FOOLS is appropriate. Never since the Marx Brothers took on the world, opera, and a ship of pretentious windbags has there been such a delightful comedy. It's too bad the film is being shown only in art houses. It is a gem of a comedy.

My God! That line alone was enough to make me soil my pants. One of the best farces I have ever seen with characters to make one's imagination drool. I want to keep Stanley Tucci's brain in a jar and show it off as a prized possession to all my friends. Better yet....invite them to watch the film.

The Impostors fmovies. THE IMPOSTORS (1998) ***

Starring: Oliver Platt, Stanley Tucci, Lili Taylor, Steve Buscemi, Campbell Scott, Isabella Rossellini, Billy Connolly, and Hope Davis Written and directed by: Stanley Tucci Running Time: 102 minutes Rated R (for some language and sex-related material) By Blake French:

Certain movies are just not for all audiences. Stanley Tucci directs the new comedy, who is one of the creators of the 1995 drama-comedy "Big Night." The film is certainly not for everyone. It will satisfy fans of screwball comedies, and perhaps fans of someone in the cast-they may enjoy it. However, I only liked "The Impostors" because of the laughs it brought along with its well-written script. It is not your typical comedy. Now, I'm not saying that this movie is great. I am saying, however, that this movie satisfied me to the point of a recommendation.

"The Impostors" opens with a hilarious sequence in which the two main stars, Tucci and Platt, play two out of work actors, Maurice & Arthur, who play on a silent stage who have serious and comical problems with women, coffee, and each other.

Maurice & Arthur get in to trouble and escape from the police in a boarding box. However, while they were sleeping, the box was loaded onto a ship carrying an assortment of bizarre passengers that provoke even more laughs. They include a Nazi steward with tight lips, Lily, the social director who helps Maurice & Arthur, a First Mate who is a mad bomber, a tennis pro who is aggressively gay, an ex-queen in despair entertainer who wants to commit suicide, and many more.

The films casting was more to my liking than any other movie I have seen this year. The characters fit the actors so perfectly and realistically that I could have been fooled that these people were actually victims of a secret tapping of "Candid Camera." Each of them bring a story to themselves outside the plot. No one character is at the mercy of the script.

As for the script itself, it kept its cool even as it organized its own extremely complicated chaos. There are many laughs that evolve from hyperactive activity from the assortment of characters because there is such a variety, everything feels so fresh in this movie.

"The Impostors" is an opinion based movie. Certain film's don't carry massive plot holes, obvious flaws, or any other structural or character problem, but they don't necessarily bring anything overwhelmingly powerful to the big screen either. "The Impostors" is this kind of comedy. Whether you find it to your liking or not will totally depend on your taste in comic material in film. I was amused by the picture. Many filmgoers will differ on my opinion though. The individual I screened the film longed for its conclusion and declared this was the worst movie she had seen in her life. I recommend the film, but take into account your personal feelings on my review before you make a judgment call. "The Impostors" might make you laugh uncontrollably, but it also may cause you to turn your head in pitiful despise.

Brought to you by Fox Searchlight Pictures.

I rented this knowing nothing about it (not much of this kind of thing makes it to Kentucky). I just really like Oliver Platt. So I rented it one night in college, having nothing better to do...

And I loved it. It's really not like any movie I've ever seen. I'm not really a connoisseur of Laurel and Hardy or anyone like that--I'm just your average college kid, I guess. I don't like most American comedy, though, because it's a little too dependent on violence and switching one's brain off. But this movie was so different and so funny! It was silly, sure, but it was smart and really amusing. I love Steve Buscemi in everything he's in, and he was just TOO funny here. I was rolling in the floor.

And Campbell Scott was just great, I loved how he kept popping up at the most inopportune times. But my favorite part, I think, was that little bit with the Hamlet play. I've seen productions like this and known actors like that and it was just PERFECT! The archetypical actor who can't fit his inflated head through the backstage door. It was truly hilarious all the way through, and I don't know anything about what it could be based on. I just liked it a lot. But it's not your average American comedy, and it might inspire a love/hate response in many viewers. I think it's probably an acquired taste.

I'm afraid to say too much about director/writer/co-star Stanley Tucci's follow-up to BIG NIGHT because I don't want to spoil any of its sublimely insane surprises! This rollicking screwball comedy follows two dedicated but starving actor pals (Tucci and Oliver Platt) on their increasingly nutty adventures in 1930s NYC and aboard an ocean liner. The all-star indie film cast includes many of Tucci's co-stars from BIG NIGHT (including BN co-director Campbell Scott as the cruise's officious German director), many of them in change-of-pace roles. For example, it was a delight to see Lili Taylor get to exercise her flair for comedy as the pretty, plucky activities director being romantically pursued by both Scott and Matt McGrath. Although many have compared THE IMPOSTORS to Laurel and Hardy, I think its sophisticated air and sly playfulness make it more like Woody Allen meets The Marx Brothers. If you want to be swept away into a sea of laughter, THE IMPOSTORS is well worth seeking out at the local video shoppe!