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Rating:  -
Mel Brooks produced this film, loosely based on his own experiences as a young joke writer on Sid Caesar's "Your Show of Shows." Apparently VERY loosely based, but nonetheless, every bit of this script hits its mark perfectly, and the direction of Richard Benjamin puts the actors through their paces just right as well.
"My Favorite Year" is a film to be remembered with great fondness for many years, with its larger-than-life heroes, bad guys, fall guys, and straight men (and women), equally for its belly laughs and heartfelt tender moments. Peter O'Toole shines as Swann, the over-the-hill swashbuckling movie hero who lives in a bottle because of his self-loathing, unable/unwilling to leave show business to deal with fatherhood and hating himself for it.
Swann shows up as guest star on the faux Caesar's program and doubles as tutor for young starry-eyed Brooks (Mark-Linn Baker, aka "Benji Stone") in the ways of wooing a young lady. And it all works. The wisecracks, the wooing, even bringing Swann closer to dealing with his role as an absentee parent who needs to be less absent.
Favorite line: Swann drunkenly staggers into the wrong restroom to relieve himself of the results of his latest drinking spree. Selma Diamond: "You can't come in here! This is for ladies only!" O'Toole: "And so, madam, is this" (zzzzzip) "but occasionally I must run a little water through it."
Classic.
Rating:  -
MY FAVORITE YEAR was Richard Benjamin's first feature film, and, looking at it objectively, it must be said that, on a technical level, it is not very accomplished. All throughout the movie, you are struck (in a negative way, I think) by its sheer staginess: even though it was based on an original screenplay by Dennis Palumbo (from a story by Palumbo and Norman Steinberg), the whole thing more often than not feels like a stage play rather than a real movie (and surprise! it actually did become a Broadway musical afterwards). Some of the self-conscious acting seems to reflect that spirit, in the scenes involving Joseph Bologna's "King" Kaiser and a few gangsters, and in some of the scenes with Mark Linn-Baker's Benjy Stone. In this film, at least, Benjamin shows himself only barely competent at staging, and a lot of the time the film's overly stagey texture was a distraction for me.
That said, Benjamin does succeed in the things that matter most in MY FAVORITE YEAR. You can tell that this is a film from the heart, since he shows a sincere admiration for and enjoyment of all of his characters, which are based on real-life characters involved in the backstage production of Sid Caesar's "Your Show of Shows." Benjamin also never gets in the way of the real star of this show, Peter O'Toole---and if there is one sole reason to see this film, he is it. O'Toole's performance as Alan Swann is simply magnificent: he portrays both Swann's public image (as a heroic swashbuckler) and the pain and torment masked by the image. It is a breathtaking performance of notable range, and you really feel for the character, who has fallen on hard times in private life, esp. regarding his estranged daughter. As for Mark Linn-Baker, who plays the young aspiring writer who idolizes Swann and gets him to appear on the "Comedy Cavalcade," he might be a little too hammy in his scenes without O'Toole, but with him around he admirably holds his own. O'Toole and Linn-Baker have one truly memorable and magical scene towards the end that is full of palpable emotion from both actors. Perhaps O'Toole spurred Linn-Baker onto greater heights in their scenes together.
In short, MY FAVORITE YEAR is far from a great comedy, but, if you can get past the creaky staging, then it should prove to be mostly a delight, thanks in no small measure to Peter O'Toole's truly great performance at its center. Recommended.
Rating: -
I would have to place this into my top ten favorite films of all times. It's a rather unknown delightful comedy that should not be missed by any movie fan. Peter O'Toole, Mark Linn-Baker and the rest of the cast are perfect in their rolls. You will not be sorry renting or buying this DVD.
Rating: -
I'll tell you. This movie is so great that I was able to rent it and entertain my GRANDPARENTS for an entire evening. I discovered it right after it was released because it was at the same time we got cable. (Man, were WE behind the times!) This movie has it all; a great cast, scads of great one-liners, and best of all, you can pull it out and show it knowing that most people have never heard of it.
Rating: -
Have you ever watched a film and wished it wouldn't end? Where you loved all the characters, adored each scene, and laughed at every joke, even after you'd seen the film so many times that you could quote the dialog? MY FAVORITE YEAR is that kind of movie!
Directed with gusto by Richard Benjamin, the film is both a loving tribute to Sid Caesar's 'Your Show of Show', and the remarkable talents that brought it together each week, and a sincere homage to Errol Flynn, whose antics and larger-than-life persona, in the waning years of his life, still had the kind of magic that could enthrall a shy young fan, or make a woman swoon.
Three dynamic performances dominate the film. Mark Linn-Baker, as Benjy Stone, based on the young Mel Brooks, is a shy kid who hides his insecurities behind a rapid-fire wit. The dazzling young star in a staff of comedy 'pros', Stone suffers from an unrequited love from fellow staffer K. C. Downing (Jessica Harper), and has an inspiration, inviting legendary swashbuckler Alan Swann (Peter O'Toole) to appear on the show. As King Kaiser, star of the hit series, Joseph Bologna captures much of Sid Caesar's legendary physical 'presence' and irreverence to authority. When threatened by gangsters over a 'too close to home' series of parodies about crime boss Karl Rojeck (portrayed with brute menace by veteran actor Cameron Mitchell), Kaiser 'thumbs his nose' at them, mimicking the gangster mercilessly. "I'll KEEP doing it!" he taunts. "Why? Because it's FUNNY!"
Then there is Peter O'Toole's 'Alan Swann'. With his own career a roller coaster ride of alcoholism, resulting in the near destruction of his health, no actor could have 'channeled' Errol Flynn better. Just as Flynn, by the 1950s, was a nearly burned-out roue, his classic good looks long gone, O'Toole's matinee-idol appearance, after years of self-abuse, had aged into a gaunt mask, making Benji Stone's film montage of 'classic' clips more poignant. What Flynn still had, in abundance, was charm and a ready wit, and O'Toole's 'Swann' is so enchanting a personality that you can't help but love him, and root for him to succeed.
From the opening nostalgic strains of Nat King Cole's rendition of 'Stardust', through Benjy's futile effort to attempt to keep Swann sober (Red Skelton loved to tell how he kept Flynn sober on his program...he emptied all of the actor's bottles of vodka, replacing it with water...and Flynn couldn't tell the difference!), to a riotous Swann dinner with Benjy's family, to the near-disastrous broadcast, with Swann developing stage fright, and Kaiser brawling with mob enforcers...MY FAVORITE YEAR has one glorious scene after another, each unforgettable!
One of the AFI's '100 Greatest Film Comedies', MY FAVORITE YEAR will bring a tear to your eye, even as you laugh. It was a time of legends, and heroes who would live up to boyhood dreams.
Film comedy doesn't get any better than this!
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