MovieChat Forums > I Love You to Death (1990) Discussion > Now, this is how you do 'Black Comedy' w...

Now, this is how you do 'Black Comedy' well

posted 13 years ago by Tetra123
2 replies | jump to latest

*Spoilers*

This is a perfectly orchestrated "Black Comedy", with one of the best ensemble casts I've ever seen - "best" because these actors play-off eachother so perfectly, that the veil of obliviousness across characters is uniform and they never drop the joke. Each character is so endearingly absurd and their respective logic perfectly expressed, that you're able to suspend judgement and see the justifications for their individual choices and behavior and how a series of events unfolds; this generates an emotional connection between characters and the audience, one that's very important to maintain in this kind of comedy. If a director loses this continuuity across characters - this equality of perspective - people start to lose sympathy and the laughter feels all wrong. How funny can the story of a wife who is, unsuccessfully, trying to kill her husband, be?

Very. You have Kevin Kline flamboyantly showcasing a hokey stereotype to perfection, playing to a series of wonderful, comedic actresses, all taking cameos as his ditzy or unaware conquests (I'll leave those as a surprise). You have the seriousness of Joan Plowright as a mother-in-law who obviously never liked the rascal her daughter married, reminding a dreamy, alterna-hippie pizza boy, played by River Phoenix, to get the best deal in his hitman negotiations. You have William Hurt, playing the lead man in a dingbat duo between two pothead losers being hired as hitmen, the other in the team excellently played by Keanu Reeves (any question of his skill is resolved, here; it takes actual, conscious planning, to play a doofy stonehead burn-out, to such utter perfection.) And you have Tracey Ullman, generating genuine sympathy and total believability as the wife-done-wrong.

The script is hilarious, the subtle ways the actors interact and the little character directions (for example: River's character, seriously fussing over runes, pulling himself aside to pull himself together; Keanu's character, attempting to listen to a "plan" and occasionally slipping out of the conversation to drift off, only to be pulled back into it by William Hurt's character; Joan Plowright expressing her anger and dissapointment to Kevin Kline's, even after it's been revealed she was part of a plot to kill him, the way Kevin Kline's character justifies his actions) are great. I'm surprised this film only got a mediocre critical response because it's really such an excellent, black comedy. I thought it was hilarious.

[–] AzumangaDaioh 13 years ago

Well said, I agree with you completely. It's such an underrated movie.

With this candle...I will set your mother on fire.

[–] Tetra123 13 years ago

Thanks, Azumanga! This cast was a perfect fit. This was an interesting ensemble of many, very different comedic types, all fitting together as snuggly as "Tetris" game pieces, balancing eachother out and establishing clear personalities for each character.

If this weren't a comedy, the question would be: What kind of people - what sorts of personalities - could DO this sort of thing? But pose the story as a comedy and you find something else, entirely, where everyone is, both; a villian and a victim - who's most deserving of sympathy? - challenging the audience and adding to the kookiness of the story. Even the bit players are no angels; cheating, not loyal to the guys they went out with - even Heather Graham's character fails to notice how sweet Devo is, as she considers an apartment, the victim of a clear pick-up strategy by Kevin Kline's character. Who should we feel sorry for? Who should we despise? It could be any of them, and for multiple reasons. The absurdity of human interaction - of these bizzare situations humans get themselves into - is the foundation of "Black Comedy". Everyone is innocent in some way; everyone is also guilty of some wrong-doing.

Consider the - supposedly - true story it was based upon. In this case, "Truth was stranger than fiction" and it was a premise "Too weird to be true". That sort of stuff is the lifeblood of "Black Comedy", truth being stranger than fiction. This was highlighted by having Joan Plowright's character picking through wacky tabloids, as a running joke throughout the film: Which was more disturbingly odd? The headlines on the tabloid papers or the situation the characters actually found themselves submerged, in?