Watched at the Music Box for their Billy Wilder Matinee Series Part 2.
I love many of Billy Wilder's films very much (and have adored seeing them with crowds at the amazing Music Box theater in Chicago), but this one felt like listening in on a beloved uncle tell a really sexist joke disguised as a charming anecdote. Not to mention, I found it to be uncharacteristically corny for a Wilder comedy.
The good:
* Title sequence by Saul Bass…
It takes a whole lot of bad to summon the kind of goodness exuded by people like the Bagbys. I’ve never seen a documentary brimming with as much love and pain as this one. Believe the hype...this is an emotional workout, but one that is well worth the discomfort and sorrow.
5 stars for the stage show itself, which was electrifying and unlike anything I've ever seen live. The interplay between movement, light, and sound was beautiful to behold. I had doubts that a film would be able to capture something that was just as dependent on the palpable energy of the performers and fellow audience members as it was on the music itself. That being said, Demme managed to do it with Stop Making Sense, so I held out hope...…
