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Humorous 'Honeymooners' lacks originality
Director: John Schultz.
Stars: Cedric the Entertainer, Mike Epps.
MPAA Rating: PG-13, for some innuendo.
Michael Machosky can be reached via e-mail or at 412-320-7901.
I usually stopped clicking to watch for a minute or two. I wouldn't call it funny, but there's something about its stilted theatricality and old-fashioned gags and pratfalls that appeals to me. Plus, the working-class culture of old New York, no matter how romanticized onscreen, has a funny kind of rhythm to its language that you just don't hear anymore.
So who is this remake for? It's not for people who remember the original series in the 1950s. Aside from the memorable theme music and a few of Kramden's (now said by Cedric the Entertainer) "classic" lines -- which seem as out of place here as Henny Youngman one-liners in a Chris Rock monologue -- it doesn't have much in common with its small-screen predecessor.
"The Honeymooners" must be intended for a younger audience, who probably have no recollection of the show, except maybe as a fleeting presence on one of those channels the old folks like.
With all that said, "Honeymooners" isn't a bad little movie. In fact, we could do without those references to its famous pedigree entirely. I don't know why Cedric the Entertainer was cast as the bumbling, bulky bus driver, who's always scheming wacky new ways to make a buck. Probably just because he's fat. When he imitates Jackie Gleason's comic rage, it's a little embarrassing. But most of the time, he forgets to.
His wife Alice's (Gabrielle Union) dream is to own her own house. But Ralph and his upstairs neighbor Ed Norton's (Mike Epps) get-rich-quick schemes never seem to pan out. First there's the Y2K survival kits, then the velour "man-purses," then the antique train car hidden in the sewer tunnel, which they plan to put wheels on and turn into a tour bus. And then there's the greyhound race, pitting a "dumpster dog" that they find against New York's finest breeds.
Recycling old TV shows into new movies must work, because people keep doing it. Using characters that were mostly just loose collections of cliches decades ago doesn't make them new and exciting now. But the leads here are all likeable, and do pretty well with predictable material. Wisely, the film drops the queasy undercurrent of domestic violence -- always played for laughs -- that lurks in the old TV show.
When Kramden and Norton cross paths with a kindred spirit -- a fast-talking "dog trainer" named Dodge (John Leguizamo), whom they meet siphoning gas with his mouth and a hose from someone's SUV -- some genuinely good comedy threatens to erupt.
Leguizamo gets the funniest line in the film. While discussing a girlfriend, he remarks, "I don't want to marry her for her money. But I don't know how else to get it."
PG-13 is a pretty harsh rating for a film with no real swear words, no sex or violence. There are a few semi-racy jokes, but they're pretty tame compared to most prime-time sitcoms. This isn't a bad family film, with dependable themes like forgiveness and taking responsibility for your mistakes.
The only viewers likely to be offended are those who like their movies on the original side.
