Blake Edwards, in his long career churned out many memorable films, not the least of which were the wonderful, but uneven, Pink Panther series, and, my favorite, the Bo Derek vehicle "10", easily Dudley Moore's best film.. just thinking about poor lovesick Moore hotfooting his way across a Mexican beach, or trying to explain who he is after a long dentist's visit and too much brandy and painkillers, makes me chuckle..
In "S.O.B." Edwards tried to expose/dissect/shred the inner workings of Hollywood, the rivalries, deals, back-stabbing, all as a film-within-a-film, a dismal flop called "Nightwind" is being re-made by hapless Felix Farmer (Richard Mulligan, who earned his claim to fame in the TV series "SOAP")..
In 1981, S.O.B. was looked upon as daring. It has not aged well.
It's two hours that feels double that length.. it has its moments but I found it for the most part, insufferably self-indulgent and brimming with poorly-executed good ideas.
Watching it twice on HBO this month I couldn't help but think how distracting the Disco era wardrobe was.. how so many films have done certain similar pivotal scenes so much better.. "9 to 5"'s stealing a body from a Funeral Home was 100 times funnier than the one acted out in "S.O.B." Hard as this may be to say, "Weekend at Bernie's" excruciatingly reptitive jokes about transporting around a corpse were absolutely hilarious compared to the way Edwards tries to pull off the same routine..
A lot of "S.O.B." is like that - you feel like you're being set up for something truly hilarious, but the payoff is a huge let-down..
And the yelling.. and more yelling.. if there's one thing that grinds my gears, it's films in which nearly *every* character spends much of their on-screen time YELLING. One-dimensional Loretta Swit with her enormous Steven Tyler mouth is the worst offender here. Mulligan doesn't know the meaning of the word "finesse." Julie Andrews and so many others are guilty of this too, and her much-touted topless scene is, well, just plain lame. It's just another very long buildup to a disappointment. (Although a brief topless scene with a very young Rosanna Arquette almost makes up for it ;)..
The film is absolutely chocked-full of legendary actors, and the late Robert "The Music Man" Preston as a wacko flaming Doctor to the stars, (with the film's worst hair-styling).. easily steals every scene he's in. But it's still not enough to save this self-indulgent shoutfest.
"S.O.B." leaves me feeling like I'm watching some kind of huge Hollywood in-joke that never truly draws me in. I always felt like an outsider, watching some very good actors, playing very bad actors, playing very bad actors. If you want to see Edwards at the peak of his Directorial skills, doing a truly fine dark comedy, leave this one on the shelf and watch "10" instead.
In "S.O.B." Edwards tried to expose/dissect/shred the inner workings of Hollywood, the rivalries, deals, back-stabbing, all as a film-within-a-film, a dismal flop called "Nightwind" is being re-made by hapless Felix Farmer (Richard Mulligan, who earned his claim to fame in the TV series "SOAP")..
In 1981, S.O.B. was looked upon as daring. It has not aged well.
It's two hours that feels double that length.. it has its moments but I found it for the most part, insufferably self-indulgent and brimming with poorly-executed good ideas.
Watching it twice on HBO this month I couldn't help but think how distracting the Disco era wardrobe was.. how so many films have done certain similar pivotal scenes so much better.. "9 to 5"'s stealing a body from a Funeral Home was 100 times funnier than the one acted out in "S.O.B." Hard as this may be to say, "Weekend at Bernie's" excruciatingly reptitive jokes about transporting around a corpse were absolutely hilarious compared to the way Edwards tries to pull off the same routine..
A lot of "S.O.B." is like that - you feel like you're being set up for something truly hilarious, but the payoff is a huge let-down..
And the yelling.. and more yelling.. if there's one thing that grinds my gears, it's films in which nearly *every* character spends much of their on-screen time YELLING. One-dimensional Loretta Swit with her enormous Steven Tyler mouth is the worst offender here. Mulligan doesn't know the meaning of the word "finesse." Julie Andrews and so many others are guilty of this too, and her much-touted topless scene is, well, just plain lame. It's just another very long buildup to a disappointment. (Although a brief topless scene with a very young Rosanna Arquette almost makes up for it ;)..
The film is absolutely chocked-full of legendary actors, and the late Robert "The Music Man" Preston as a wacko flaming Doctor to the stars, (with the film's worst hair-styling).. easily steals every scene he's in. But it's still not enough to save this self-indulgent shoutfest.
"S.O.B." leaves me feeling like I'm watching some kind of huge Hollywood in-joke that never truly draws me in. I always felt like an outsider, watching some very good actors, playing very bad actors, playing very bad actors. If you want to see Edwards at the peak of his Directorial skills, doing a truly fine dark comedy, leave this one on the shelf and watch "10" instead.