"Oscar" is set in a single day and centers around a central location in the period of the early '30s: the mansion of going-straight mob boss Angelo "Snaps" Provolone.
The environment is a tangled web of confusing and conflicting circumstances, all done with purposeful absurdity and silliness. New challenges and complications muddy up the day of Snaps attempting to lead the honest life after giving one last request to his dying father. Can he do it? Well, maybe if he manages to settle down and think apart from so many building distractions, such as dealing with anyone from his spoiled daughter and pestering son-in-law-to-be to his simple henchmen that need looking after and wising up.
The flow starts to feel routine and eventually claustrophobic due to seeing the same do-nothing areas, as well as the situational humor eventually turns tedious from watching similar gags run their course. Minor characters stand apart such as the informant "Five Spot Charlie" with his eccentric lip smacking and stuttering; Chazz Palminteri plays a hit-man who tears up to touching events. Though the laughs don't always come so easily with "Oscar" compared to other Landis films like "Animal House," "Three Amigos," "Coming to America," "Trading Places" and even "American Werewolf" considered.
This is a movie that relies heavily on its situations and characters--since it was modeled after a stage play--however some of the cast aren't so hysterical that it radiates across the screen to make a viewer instantly loosen up and go with its zaniness. Stallone, for instance, frequently uses this kind of booming intonation like a professional wrestler to show aggravation; it's commanding, but not for comedy's sake. This had potential to be a breezy if still fun film, though some sparks went missing to clench a solid pacing and the movie in turn felt up and down. Had it one moment, gone flat the next.
The environment is a tangled web of confusing and conflicting circumstances, all done with purposeful absurdity and silliness. New challenges and complications muddy up the day of Snaps attempting to lead the honest life after giving one last request to his dying father. Can he do it? Well, maybe if he manages to settle down and think apart from so many building distractions, such as dealing with anyone from his spoiled daughter and pestering son-in-law-to-be to his simple henchmen that need looking after and wising up.
The flow starts to feel routine and eventually claustrophobic due to seeing the same do-nothing areas, as well as the situational humor eventually turns tedious from watching similar gags run their course. Minor characters stand apart such as the informant "Five Spot Charlie" with his eccentric lip smacking and stuttering; Chazz Palminteri plays a hit-man who tears up to touching events. Though the laughs don't always come so easily with "Oscar" compared to other Landis films like "Animal House," "Three Amigos," "Coming to America," "Trading Places" and even "American Werewolf" considered.
This is a movie that relies heavily on its situations and characters--since it was modeled after a stage play--however some of the cast aren't so hysterical that it radiates across the screen to make a viewer instantly loosen up and go with its zaniness. Stallone, for instance, frequently uses this kind of booming intonation like a professional wrestler to show aggravation; it's commanding, but not for comedy's sake. This had potential to be a breezy if still fun film, though some sparks went missing to clench a solid pacing and the movie in turn felt up and down. Had it one moment, gone flat the next.