This is a comedic gem- and it's free on YouTube, which is an added plus- I like smaller films, not big budget ones, little movies that were lost a long time ago. We're suffering from a shortage of good small budget movies these days. This is a GOOD small budget movie. Damn good for a small budget. I'd never watch every episode of the Smothers Brothers comedy hour- but I sat through this thing with absolutely no lack of attention. I was always waiting for what came next. This film is good. Every minute of it is thoroughly enjoyable. Only an hour, though- half the length of a normal movie.
People only watch this movie to see the debut of Steve Martin. I think that's a shame, because people should try to enjoy it not as the first ever Steve Martin role, but as a movie unto itself. It's a good movie. It captures the spirit of seventies comedy- and the deep resentment which the populace had toward that rat of a president. Here, we see the beginning of political satire- the world could not make fun of Trump today if anti-cultural hi jinks like this hadn't been made. It should be released on DVD- people should see this. It's incredible.
Steve Martin should not be the reason you watch this- of course, I saw it just for him- but after watching it, I realized what a fool I had been. He's only in there for five seconds- he only gets one line- and you can barely even see his face. Why watch this movie just to see Steve Martin? The other comedians in this movie are just as funny- they do a great job. Everything about this film is top notch. If you watch it, and consider it a Steve Martin film, and you see Steve Martin as being a main character- then it's a colossal disappointment- but, if you watch it as just a comedy, Steve Martin or no Steve Martin- then it's great. It's a pip.
You might expect this thing to have biting political satire, tons of references to little things, little details about Nixon and Agnew- you might expect hard biting intellectual satire, or highbrow humor. It doesn't have anything intellectual about it- the humor is stupid and dumb- but it's not supposed to have sharp humor. It's not supposed to be cutting edge. It's just a goofy thing. It's based on Laurel and Hardy- that's your first clue that it's not going to be cutting edge- it's a slapstick film, and it's not meant to be anything but that. Nixon gets poked in the eye, Spiro gets conked on the button with a brick- followed by the Don Martin-esque sound effect- this is not for snobs. This is for people who like slapstick. Simple, low class humor which can be understood by even a dullard. This is by no means cutting edge- it's a wacky trip through insanity. But you can see why it was made- the seventies were hard times, and comedy was needed, and there were two clowns in the white house, with lots of similarity to clowns- so the Smothers decided to make the obvious connection to Laurel and Hardy. It's as simple as that. And if you don't get it, then you don't have a grasp of what slapstick is.
The pairing of these two- Spiro and Nixon- has incredible charisma, and it's inherent from the very beginning, when Nixon slaps his hand on the book, that it's going to be a very fun buddy comedy. And it lived up to its expectations. Everything about it is top notch. I even began to like Nixon for a moment. And that's hard to do.
This film is criticized too much- and the Smothers Brothers are jerks to recant their own creation- it was amazing. The conflict was resolved easily- there was almost no conflict at all- and that's nice to see- a simple film with no real conflict. The conflict is resolved just by dropping a bomb into a mailbox. Overall, this film- a gem- reminds us that presidents have lives too, and that they're only human, and they get pies in their faces and bricks thrown at their heads just like we do. Go watch it- you'll be glad you did.
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