How can you fairly describe a plot which contains family drama, suspense and a local gangster who is trying to buy some kind of Chinese elixir of life (smuggled from France)? Maybe it's best not to try. Suffice to say the whole thing builds to a tense climax which could see a horrible repetition of an event from the past which we have been shown in flashback.
All the performances are excellent. Oliver Platt as failed comic Tommy Fawkes looking for the special something that will make him funny looks unnervingly like Orson Welles in some scenes. Jerry Lewis as his legendary father George is full of wonderful advice. When Tommy is making his Vegas debut he tells him "the room is full of people all ready for you to make them laugh" - just the thing to calm dressing room nerves. I find the idea of Jerry Lewis in Blackpool a great joke in itself.
There is great support from Freddie Davies and George Carl as the Parker Brothers. Formerly the top act at Blackpool Tower they are given a new lease of life (literally) and the opportunity to perform again. My one quibble with 'Funny Bones' is that throughout the film we're told how great the Parkers were, yet when they are finally on stage all we get are snippets of what looks like a terrific slapstick routine.
Finally there's Lee Evans whose energy (cliche coming up) threatens to burst right off the screen. His 'Valve Radio' routine is almost too fast to be funny, while in the more dramatic phases he successfully gives Jack Parker the necessary aura of danger and unpredictability the story needs. Jack can't help being funny even when being interviewed by a psychiatrist: Q: "Have you lived in Blackpool all your life?" A: "Not yet."
Leslie Caron looks beautiful and sophisticated as Jack's mother, Katie. While she is portrayed sympathetically we see she is far from perfect as wife or mother, (and despite the words of her song, Englishmen *do* make love in the afternoon - believe me).
A film which is largely set in Blackpool can't be all bad and 'Funny Bones' is far from being all bad. Even this setting is stylised with some strange 1950's retro touches, as if Blackpool hasn't moved on for thirty years or so. I'm afraid honesty compels me to say that Blackpool is in fact dirty, tawdry, a little squalid and the sun certainly doesn't shine everyday. The entertainment centre (the 'Golden Mile') stretches along the shoreline but soon gives way to the usual Victorian terraced streets. People in the north of England like to think of it as our Las Vegas but the Lancashire coast is about as different from the Nevada desert as you can get. In this film we still seem to be seeing Blackpool through the eyes of six-year old Tommy Fawkes. And where are the trams?
All the performances are excellent. Oliver Platt as failed comic Tommy Fawkes looking for the special something that will make him funny looks unnervingly like Orson Welles in some scenes. Jerry Lewis as his legendary father George is full of wonderful advice. When Tommy is making his Vegas debut he tells him "the room is full of people all ready for you to make them laugh" - just the thing to calm dressing room nerves. I find the idea of Jerry Lewis in Blackpool a great joke in itself.
There is great support from Freddie Davies and George Carl as the Parker Brothers. Formerly the top act at Blackpool Tower they are given a new lease of life (literally) and the opportunity to perform again. My one quibble with 'Funny Bones' is that throughout the film we're told how great the Parkers were, yet when they are finally on stage all we get are snippets of what looks like a terrific slapstick routine.
Finally there's Lee Evans whose energy (cliche coming up) threatens to burst right off the screen. His 'Valve Radio' routine is almost too fast to be funny, while in the more dramatic phases he successfully gives Jack Parker the necessary aura of danger and unpredictability the story needs. Jack can't help being funny even when being interviewed by a psychiatrist: Q: "Have you lived in Blackpool all your life?" A: "Not yet."
Leslie Caron looks beautiful and sophisticated as Jack's mother, Katie. While she is portrayed sympathetically we see she is far from perfect as wife or mother, (and despite the words of her song, Englishmen *do* make love in the afternoon - believe me).
A film which is largely set in Blackpool can't be all bad and 'Funny Bones' is far from being all bad. Even this setting is stylised with some strange 1950's retro touches, as if Blackpool hasn't moved on for thirty years or so. I'm afraid honesty compels me to say that Blackpool is in fact dirty, tawdry, a little squalid and the sun certainly doesn't shine everyday. The entertainment centre (the 'Golden Mile') stretches along the shoreline but soon gives way to the usual Victorian terraced streets. People in the north of England like to think of it as our Las Vegas but the Lancashire coast is about as different from the Nevada desert as you can get. In this film we still seem to be seeing Blackpool through the eyes of six-year old Tommy Fawkes. And where are the trams?