Two Much (1995)

*The cast:

• Antonio Banderas : Art / Bart Dodge

• Daryl Hannah: Liz Kerner

• Melanie Griffith: Betty

• Joan Cusack: Gloria

• Eli Wallach: Sheldon

*The story:

Art Dodge is an art swindler. He looks at the death announcements in the papers. At the day of the funeral, thên he goes to the family and says that the dead person had bought a painting of him a few weeks before he died. At that moment, he meets Betty a rich woman who divorced the same man twice.

They fall in love with each other, but love becomes complicated when Art meets Betty's sister... he is deeply in love with her too. So he decides to transform himself in Bart (his twin brother) and then you get some humoristic moments, which aren't very funny at some moments.

Sheldon is the father of Art. Joan Cusack is the employee of Art.

An interesting note is that Melanie and Antonio fall in love on the set, and they married and had 1 child, Stella Banderas.

*Appreciation: This film is too confusing and although Daryl Hannah played her part wonderfully, the film has something of a disaster. Although the actors did their best to make a comedy. A catastrophe occurred

But don't forget that alL these actors had done some wonderful acting. Some examples; Melanie Griffith: Cecil B. Demented -- Daryl Hannah: Steel Magnolias -- Antonio Banderas: Philadelphia and Eli Wallach: the Misfits.

Sadly they made this time a wrong choice...

Mostly I like the movies that I saw and on the whole I give good comments about them. But this time I can only say that this film was a big disappointment and I hoped that it would have finished quickly. However I didn't lose my faith in the actors because it was just the wrong script that didn't work.

Rating: 5,5 /10

Fmovies: After winning a Best Foreign Film Oscar for "Belle Epoque", Fernando Trueba's follow up was this comedy starring Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith. It was not the first time that Trueba had directed a picture in English with English-speaking actors ("El sueño del mono loco" starring Miranda Richardson and Jeff Goldblum was a critical success) but "Two much" seems to have gone out of his hands.

It might have looked good in the script, a comedy that captures the essence of the comedies from the 50's, but the eventual result is quite disappointing. The three leading actors (Banderas, Griffith and Daryl Hannah) have been much better almost elsewhere, and some of the jokes and gags are kind of cheesy. However, a superb supporting cast helps to save the show. Joan Cusack is a delight to watch in a role Thelma Ritter would have done a few decades before. Danny Aiello does as much as he can with his clichéd character, and Elli Wallach is also excellent, but his role is little more than a glorified cameo.

If you like Dean Martin comedies you might appreciate the effort of resurrecting these kind of comedies, but don't expect the result to be anywhere near those classics. If you are looking for a few laughs and an acceptably amusing comedy, then you might not be disappointed.

Art Dodge runs Art's Gallery, but he's not doing too well. He looks for obituaries of rich people and shows up at the home of the deceased claiming he sold the person a painting. One day Art gets caught and has to hide in Betty's expensive car. He and Betty hit it off, but then Art discovers Betty has a sister, Liz. Betty's ex Gene wants her back and when he comes after Art, Art is wearing glasses instead of contacts, and he gets an idea. He claims to be Art's brother Bart, and Gene is not all that bright so he believes it. Art comes up with a history for Bart and tries to make him into a man Liz would like.

Art is actually quite convincing as Bart, so his main problem is explaining why the two are never together. Faking a phone call is not that big a problem. There is a hilarious scene where both men stay over with their respective girlfriends, who live in the same large house.

There is not as much zany comedy as I would have expected. At times the film seems to be more of a drama, more 'chick-flick'. Antonio Banderas seems to give a better performance in these scenes than where he is supposed to be funny; I never thought the man was a comic actor. Banderas seems natural for Bart, but not Art.

Joan Cusack gives the best acting performance, in my opinion, as Art's sarcastic secretary. Daryl Hannah and Melanie Griffith also do well. I was expecting more from Eli Wallach as Art's forgetful father Sheldon--he starts out giving an Oscar-caliber performance, for about two lines. Then he's just ordinary. Though it is funny when he actually starts believing he has two sons.

One more highlight from the movie: a car chase involving Gene's goons and Sheldon's poker buddies. I don't know exactly what that was about.

Despite its flaws, this movie had a lot to offer for me.

Two Much fmovies. A bit of fluff with lots of laughs and screwball comedy with Banderas trying to have not only his cake and eat it two, but two cakes! Some very funny bits as he tries to keep his "twin" from being exposed -hence "Two Much."

In my opinion, Joan Cusack stole the show with her broad comedic talents. She plays along with the charade, using wry humor when she finds herself in the middle of a difficult situation, and gently scolding Banderas for his questionable behavior. She was simply wonderful!

You will especially like this film if you are fans of Antonio Banderas, Melanie Griffith and Daryl Hannah. Nothing creative or unique, just good fun and nice eye candy for all to enjoy. You could probably drive down the road and get the milk and cereal for tomorrow's breakfast, while the movie is still running back home, and not miss much...but hey, this is just a comedy for a few laughs.

Following the steps of the classical American comedies, this movie is much more than a sequence of jokes. Taste, astuteness and magnificent management of the cinematographic tools are just some of the features of this film. The direction is almost perfect, with a great control of the tempo of the story. The characters are balanced: fun without being caricatured. The good job with the casting and the master hand of the director have as a result that the actors are fun but they never overact. Like in "Some Like It Hot" or "The Seven Year Itch" when you are not laughing, you are smiling and enjoying the film. Nowadays, when most of the comedies are just a succession of gags, mainly tastelessness, or parodies of well-known movies, it's refreshing to find pictures revealing that hilarity and first-class cinema are completely compatible.