When you learn about film, we always get the usual suspects: Scorsese, Spielberg, Hitchcock, Coppola to name a few. Why is it that we never hear about Coleman Francis? Coleman Francis, a big beefy guy, makes films that have themes hidden within them much like his illustrious counterparts here. Instead of the usual Catholic guilt, fear of authority, absent father figures, we get light planes, pain, suffering, general misery. In this lovely outing, Coleman treats us with the story of Harry and Beth. A married couple who run an airfield that drops a bunch of lunkheads out of planes. Anyway, they're having marriage problems. Harry is cheating on Beth with Suzy, who has a thing for Frankie, Harry's former mechanic. Joe, an old army buddy of Harry's comes to work for Harry and falls for Beth. Meanwhile, Suzy and Frankie devise a way to knock off Harry, since their white hot rage burns so brightly. Then there are scenes of lunkheads falling through space with their cheeks flapping and a big dance scene that features a very manly woman tossing around a very skinny guy. Well, after scenes that abruptly end and bad cuts here and there and Tony Cardoza acting in only one tone of voice, you feel as if the life has been sucked out of you. At the end, Suzy and Frankie are gunned down by the director himself and the movie thankfully ends. Watching this as a double feature with Red Zone Cuba, you might slip into a coma from which you might never awake.
Review of The Skydivers
