Years ago I heard/read an interview with John Lennon in which he said in the early 60s it was all jazz in the clubs. I thought that was really odd, so when I saw movie on that very phenomenon, directed by Richard Lester!, I had to check it out.
The minimally-plotted film involves a mayor determined to stop the noisy Dixieland Jazz youth fad, and a couple of local kids who decide a concert in town will fix *everything*. They head to the big city to grab a DJ and a few musicians.
This is an excuse for two things, musical performances, and classic Lester sight-gags including a series involving a man eating spaghetti in a club.
The gags are great, whacky and sometimes surreal. The music is a mix of Trad Jazz and early rock and roll performers doing their non-hits.
I wasn't too thrilled with most of the Trad Jazz. The most interesting thing was how some numbers were filmed, most notably a bizarre sequence with the Temperance 7 that included musicians lunching and getting into weird formations before a white background. Very Lester. The best Jazz is in the final half hour in the concert itself, but that's also filmed in the most perfunctory fashion.
The two stars are a couple of English pop singers. The guy is at the acting level of someone who does school videos on the heart and where electricity comes from. The gal could never aspire to anything so lofty; she is truly a terrible actress. But she's got an interesting singing voice.
I liked the very funny in-between song bits, but most of the actual music I could do without. If you're a bigger fan of white-boy 60s Trad Jazz you should really like this.
Note: I saw this movie in 2006 then watched it again in 2018 because I'd forgotten I'd seen it. Didn't realize until I came across my original IMDB review; this is *not* memorable!
The minimally-plotted film involves a mayor determined to stop the noisy Dixieland Jazz youth fad, and a couple of local kids who decide a concert in town will fix *everything*. They head to the big city to grab a DJ and a few musicians.
This is an excuse for two things, musical performances, and classic Lester sight-gags including a series involving a man eating spaghetti in a club.
The gags are great, whacky and sometimes surreal. The music is a mix of Trad Jazz and early rock and roll performers doing their non-hits.
I wasn't too thrilled with most of the Trad Jazz. The most interesting thing was how some numbers were filmed, most notably a bizarre sequence with the Temperance 7 that included musicians lunching and getting into weird formations before a white background. Very Lester. The best Jazz is in the final half hour in the concert itself, but that's also filmed in the most perfunctory fashion.
The two stars are a couple of English pop singers. The guy is at the acting level of someone who does school videos on the heart and where electricity comes from. The gal could never aspire to anything so lofty; she is truly a terrible actress. But she's got an interesting singing voice.
I liked the very funny in-between song bits, but most of the actual music I could do without. If you're a bigger fan of white-boy 60s Trad Jazz you should really like this.
Note: I saw this movie in 2006 then watched it again in 2018 because I'd forgotten I'd seen it. Didn't realize until I came across my original IMDB review; this is *not* memorable!