The Impostors Review
by "Kleszczewski, Nicholas" (Nicholas DOT Kleszczewski AT pepsico DOT com)November 15th, 1998
The Imposters
Comedy is the most volatile topic to write about. There have been innumerable instances where I laughed wholeheartedly at a film, only to stare blankly at a second viewing. I don't know the criteria for making comedy "timeless", and very few comedies make me laugh over repeated viewings.
That said, _The Impostors_ made me laugh a whole lot. It is light, whimsical entertainment--a throw-back to the silent comedies of Keaton and Chaplin. It doesn't take itself too seriously, and that's a relief. It's about two unemployed actors who find themselves in crazy circumstances beyond their control.
Stanley Tucci and Oliver Platt (his credits are erratic--from Flatliners & The Three Musketeers to Bulworth and Simon Birch) play their own rendition of Laurel and Hardy, unemployed actors who, in running from Jeremy Burtom, an irate established actor (Alfred Molina--Boogie Nights) hide in a crate, only to find themselves as stowaways on that very same ship that Burtom is on. Ha ha.
Afterwards there are deceptions, takeover plots, mistaken identities, cross-dressings, broken hearts, and the worst subtitles joke I+ve seen since _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_. It+s so bad, that you can+t help but laugh at the inanity of it all.
The great cast includes Lily Taylor (Ransom), Billy Connolly (Mrs. Brown), Steve Buscemi (Fargo), Hope Davis (Next Stop Wonderland), Campbell Scott (The Spanish Prisoner) and Isabella Rossellini (Big Night). They are all given roles that best exploits (or drastically alters) their standard screen personas.
Granted, ensemble casts don't mean as much as they used to. (Take a "Cannonball Run" film, or a Leslie Nielson film, and count the recognizable actors with the "doin' this for a paycheck" mentality). Here, however, it appears that the cast is game. The atmosphere is contagious. The actors are having fun. We have fun too.
_The Imposters_ was produced, directed, and written by Tucci, who enthralled moviegoers with _Big Night_ two years ago. I felt _BN_ was overrated, but I liked _The Impostors_ a good deal more. Tucci has crafted a very light, very funny comedy that works in its own right.
Nick Scale (1 to 10): 7
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