Frank Oz

  • Housesitter (1992)

    Housesitter (1992)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In French, On TV, December 2020) As the 1980s became the 1990s, Steve Martin’s film career turned from absurd high-concept comedy into a safer, far more mainstream comic fare. In this lens, Housesitter is early evidence of a process that would eventually lead to Cheaper by the Dozen 2. Martin plays an architect who, after designing the ideal house, gets his heart broken and has a one-night stand that results into something much more complicated when she moves into the house and starts saying that she’s his wife. It sounds slightly creepy but the script, as directed by Frank Oz, is about as innocuous as it comes. It helps that Martin is playing opposite a perfectly charming Goldie Hawn, and a gallery of supporting characters out of a Norman Rockwell painting. Martin plays the straight man here, reacting to Hawn’s antics more than acting. The story itself is fair, but the restraint through which it’s executed is almost overbearing – Housesitter is a film that plays it incredibly safe, and could have benefited from a bit more comic audacity. But Martin’s career, as shown here and later films, has been a steady retreat into more broadly accessible fare – still funny, if less so.

  • Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

    Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (YouTube Streaming, August 2020) Considering how Little Shop of Horrors is a dark musical comedy featuring quite a bit of affection for a human-eating plant called Audrey, there are many, many ways the film could have gone wrong. Its first achievement is that it didn’t – the second is how good it ends up being. Deftly directed by Frank Oz, the film can at least depend on good performers – some veterans, some lesser-known, but all able to bring their best to their characters. This starts with Rick Moranis as the Nebbish at put-upon Seymour, continues with Ellen Greene’s squeaky-voiced performance as the adorable love interest, goes to a bad-boy supporting role for dark-haired 50s style Steve Martin, and finally to near-cameos by Bill Murray, John Candy and James Belushi. Then add in the bouncy do-wop musical numbers, the sweet romance, the crazy comedy of Martin’s subplot, the constant interruptions by the bloodthirsty talking plant and it all combines for a film that’s ridiculously hard to resist, even knowing it features a human-killing plant. The ending finds a way to culminate the craziness while still delivering a satisfying ending, but it was a close thing: Little Shop of Horror is famous for scrapping a very expensive large-scale original ending (following the off-Broadway play) in which Audrey kills the protagonists and goes on to conquer the world. It’s entertaining in a you-lost-the-game bad-ending kind of way, but it’s not the one most appropriate to the film, and hurrah to whatever studio interference that led to a revised climax. Get the physical version of the film that has both, and you’ll decide by yourself.

  • Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)

    Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, November 2018) Tone and atmosphere are crucial to comedies, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels manages to keep up a delicate balance between its reprehensible hijinks and the charm of its lead actors hamming it up on the sunny French Riviera. Pleasantly harkening back to earlier decades (it’s a remake of the 1964 comedy Bedtime Story with added complications), it’s a comedy that leaves plenty of room for stars Michael Caine and Steve Martin to riff on their own comic personas, especially when they portray conmen with vindictive streaks. Their banter is infectiously fun, and they manage to neutralize most of the contempt that we would hold for such criminal characters. Glenne Headly is also quite good as the completing piece of the romantic triangle, although it’s a role that requires her to fly under the radar for a while before taking centre-stage in the finale. The French Riviera seems to be a supporting character in its own right, providing the right backdrop for the kind of breezy comedy that director Frank Oz intended. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels may not be all that deep (although there’s enough plot to keep things interesting even for those who have seen the original), but it’s well-executed enough to keep audiences smiling.