Oscar - from bad to worse
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Oscar - from bad to worse |
| Original title | Oscar |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1991 |
| length | 105 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 6 |
| Rod | |
| Director | John Landis |
| script | Michael Barrie , Jim Mulholland |
| production | Leslie Belzberg , Alex Ponti , Joseph S. Vecchio |
| music | Elmer Bernstein |
| camera | Mac Ahlberg |
| cut | Dale Beldin |
| occupation | |
| |
Oscar - From bad to worse is an American comedy film directed by John Landis from the year 1991 with Sylvester Stallone in the title role. The co-production by Touchstone Pictures and Silver Screen Partners IV is based on the original French film version Oscar with Louis de Funès based on the play of the same name by Claude Magnier .
action
The comedy is set in the 1930s , the time of alcohol prohibition . The gangster Angelo "Snaps" Provolone promises his father Eduardo on his deathbed that he will give up his Mafia business and become an honest businessman. However, this turns out to be not that easy.
The majority of the film action takes place on Angelo Provolone's first day as an honest person, in the course of which he gets into a hectic game of confusion and confusion. The self-imposed ban on solving problems and challenges with his proven Mafia methods is increasingly overwhelming him; not least because he regularly has to prevent his henchmen Aldo and Connie from using force. In addition, his accountant Anthony, who in the past has diverted large amounts of Angelo's smuggling income for himself, uses his renunciation of violence to extort more wages and his daughter from him. At the same time, Antony tells that he is having an affair with Angelo's daughter.
During the morning a strange woman rings the doorbell who introduces herself as Theresa. She confesses to Angelo that she told Anthony that she was Angelo's daughter. Anthony, who does not yet know about her lie, wanted to ask for Theresa's hand and not for Angelo's real daughter Lisa. Angelo then asks who the father of Lisa's unborn child is, who recently told him that she was pregnant.
For Angelo's strictly Catholic wife Sofia, Lisa's pregnancy out of wedlock is a disaster. Angelo gets Lisa to admit that the chauffeur's kid is Oscar, whom Angelo fired some time ago. Sofia urges Angelo to find Oscar immediately so that Lisa can marry him and no longer be out of favor with God. When Angelo learns that Oscar is overseas with the army, Sofia demands that Angelo find someone for Lisa so that she does not become an unmarried mother.
Angelo tells Anthony that Theresa is pregnant without telling him that Theresa is not his daughter. He convinces Anthony to entrust him with the diverted smuggling income as financial security for Theresa. Angelo signs a declaration to hand over the money to his daughter when she gets married. In return, Anthony confirms that he is the father of Angelo's daughter's child. During the whole negotiations Angelo lets Anthony believe that Theresa is the subject. The documents are formulated in such a way that Angelo's daughter is not named and they actually refer to Lisa.
When Theresa Anthony subsequently reveals that she is not Angelo's daughter and that she is not pregnant either, Anthony demands that Angelo return the smuggling proceeds. But with the written declaration that Anthony is the father of Lisa's child, Angelo now wants to force Anthony to marry Lisa. He emphasizes the demand by presenting the two tailors, who have meanwhile arrived, as contract killers, whom he wants to put on Anthony if he should refuse.
Neither the police nor rival mafia gangs believe in Angelo Provolone's turn to an honest life and continue to hunt him down. The board members of a large bank, in which Angelo wants to buy in as a partner, have set out to defraud him, knowing full well that he will no longer defend himself by criminal means.
At the end of a turbulent and eventful day, tired of honesty and the problems that come with it, Angelo decides to remain a gangster.
The film ends with the wedding of Angelo's daughter Lisa and his new daughter Theresa.
Reviews
The lexicon of international films wrote that the film was a "mistaken comedy that successfully followed the tradition of classic screwball comedies with speed, accurate dialogues and good actors".
Kathleen Maher wrote in the Austin Chronicle on May 10, 1991 that Stallone was trying to kill Rocky / Rambo with his comedies in the early 1990s , and that he had succeeded with Oscar . Stallone had shown a burgeoning sense of humor before and was given the opportunity to let it blossom in this film. They rated the film three out of five stars.
The Time Out Film Guide 13 wrote that Stallone was not up to the role. Only Tim Curry as Dr. Poole, plus Harry Shearer and Martin Ferrero as the Finucci brothers, would breathe life into the film. Landis brought the French comedy of confusion with military precision to America during the time of prohibition, but the play lacks any eroticism.
The TV magazine Prisma said: “In his first comic role, Stallone sets completely different accents than de Funès, but they are not necessarily bad. As a rough block, he paddles through the muddle where de Funès could play the madman without restraint, with hard-won control . The lovingly arranged film works excellently as a mistaken comedy. "
Awards
The 1992 film was nominated for a Golden Raspberry in the categories of Worst Leading Actor (Sylvester Stallone), Worst Director (John Landis) and Worst Supporting Actress (Marisa Tomei) .
literature
- Claude Magnier : Oscar. A misunderstanding in 3 acts (original title: Oscar) . German by Hans Weigel . [Not for sale stage manuscript.] Bloch, Berlin 1973, 150 pp.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Oscar - From the rain to the eaves. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Review by Kathleen Maher in the Austin Chronicle (English)
- ↑ Review in the Time Out Film Guide (English)
- ↑ Critique of the Prism