The Pickle. About a director, and written by a director. Danny Aiello is Harry Stone, about to release "The Pickle", which he fears will be another bomb. A fun supporting cast. Dyan Cannon, Jerry Stiller, Shelley Winters. Stephen Tobolowsky (Ned, from Groundhog Day!) Lots of little sight gags... the film crew is wearing "pickle" T shirts. Stone even has his own stalker, Bernadette. I think this story is a drama with comedy bits thrown in here and there. Unfortunately, the title and the summaries all lead you to think its going to be a comedy with some drama thrown in. It's also a little confusing, since we keep flashing back and forward... sometimes it's back to Stone's childhood, and sometimes it's back to when he was filming the movie. The film within a film is pretty funny, and has some GREAT people in it... Little Richard is the singing President, Isabella Rossellini, and Dudley Moore. Some funny one-liners "Pickle juice is now pressurized." and "Let's get this pickle off the ground!" My personal favorite is: "It's a bird. It's a plane. It's a pickle!" The bible on VCR tape has some funny updates! Shelley Winters is Stone's mom, in some type of nursing home, and still has faith in her son, but calls him out for selling out to pay his bills. That seems to be the point of the film -- coming to terms with himself, kind of a mid-life crisis. People keep telling him how they liked his older films. He also has (or had) big plans for the films that he never made. Stone has a strange relationship with his (much younger) girlfriend; Sometimes they are lovey-dovey, but every now and then he lashes out and yells at her to go back to France. Odd scene in the nightclub where he visits yet ANOTHER one of his ex wives, and she sings Goodbye Heartache. or someone does. Visiting all these ex-es is one of the running gags. Like everyone he meets wishing him good luck on the movie preview when it was supposed to be a big secret. He seems to learn little life-lessons from all the ex wives and friends he bumps into. Has an upbeat ending. Not sure why it got such a low rating. It IS a little offbeat, but some funny stuff in here. Similar to Funny Bones, with Jerry Lewis. another offbeat drama, with lots of humor. If you liked that one, you'll like this one!
Written and directed by Paul Mazursky, who was nominated FIVE times, four for writing, one for Best Picture. Dead, you know. but still has two projects in post-production, as of February 2016.
Written and directed by Paul Mazursky, who was nominated FIVE times, four for writing, one for Best Picture. Dead, you know. but still has two projects in post-production, as of February 2016.