I love screwball comedies. “The Lady Eve,” “My Man Godfrey,” “The Awful Truth,” “His Girl Friday,” “Slippery Slope”…
Wait a second. “Slippery Slope”?
Yeah. “Slippery Slope.” It’s about a feminist filmmaker that’s forced to direct a dubious porn film in order to get the film print of her documentary back from the lab so she can take it to Cannes and…
She shot a documentary on film?
Well, yeah. I mean… there’s really not a movie if she doesn’t have to get the film print back from-
So it’s really about the lengths she’ll go to in order to get her movie to Cannes?
Sort of. But she’s also married to this wimpy guy that keeps trying to get her pregnant, but she doesn’t want a baby, so-
Okay. We’re getting a little warmer here. So the movie’s really about the conflict between the husband and wife and how they-
Not exactly. But there is this big misunderstanding where the husband thinks the wife is sleeping with the star of her porno. Doesn’t that make it a screwball comedy?
Then what happens?
Well, the husband and wife work it out during a quick conversation between takes on the porno set and then the husband does this really wacky dance to distract the crew (apparently he has a big schlong) while the wife steals the money that the unscrupulous female porno producer had promised her, but then refused to give her.
So it really is about the money, isn’t it?
Yeah. I guess it is.
Then it might be a comedy, but it isn’t a screwball comedy. True screwball comedies involve a central conflict between the male and female characters-
But Gillian doesn’t want to have a baby and her husband does.
Is that what they movie’s about? How they resolve that conflict. Or is about her getting the money to get her movie to Cannes?
But the DVD box says right at the top: “A Sexy Screwball Comedy”.
Was it at least sexy?
Not really.
Was it funny?
Sort of.
Then why should I see it?
The actors are pretty good. And the cinematography is all right, too. Oh, and everything happens just when you think it will happen, so if you have to go to the bathroom or get a snack, you can sort of plan your trip ahead of time.
There really aren’t any surprises then?
Nope. But the animated title sequence is pretty sweet. In fact, when it was over, I was really excited to see the movie. But after about 30 minutes, I sort of lost interest in it because I kind of knew what was going to happen next. Plus, the sexy parts weren’t really as sexy as they thought they were and the slapstick parts weren’t really as graceful as they should have been.
Should I see it now or wait until it comes to video?
Well, it’s already on video, so you don’t actually have to wait. I mean, to tell you the truth, I think it was a solid effort. But if they want their next movie to stand out from the crowd, they’re going to have to work a lot harder on the script. A movie that looks this good, with good performances all around…it’s a shame they didn’t have better material to start with. I think Sarah Schenck, who wrote, directed and produced this movie, has got what it takes and that her next movie’s going to be a good one. But in the meantime, I think I’ll pop in my copy of “The Philadelphia Story” and make myself a gin martini.
