I enjoyed it, but could anyone have truly honored the original?
3 April 2012
As a child I watched Jackie Gleason's variety show, where one of the regular sketches was "The Honeymooners". I later had the opportunity to watch some reruns of the old black-and-white sitcom with its brilliant performances.

I had high hopes for this movie, and I wasn't really disappointed. I just enjoyed it for what it was. A silly two hours with commercials with some reasonably talented actors making me laugh with ridiculous situations. But I couldn't help but think that someone out there could have done it better. After all, Jackie Gleason, Art Carney and Audrey Meadows were some of the greatest comic actors ever. No one in this movie even came close.

John Leguizamo gives a real standout performance here. If anyone is talented out of this cast, he is. But Cedric the Entertainer, Mike Epps and Gabrielle Union all give good performances too. It's just that this movie was probably on the same level as Tyler Perry or Martin Lawrence. Fun, but nothing that could be called "The Greatest".

The women working? No way Jackie Gleason would let his wife work, remember? Audrey Meadows, however, would have put him in his place if she had ever needed to work. And as I recall, she was too pretty for the role. Gabrielle Union is gorgeous.

The storyline with the dog is kind of ridiculous and miraculous. But it made me laugh.

The movie's villain is too cartoonish. But I always hoped he wouldn't get that great house and that our heroes would.

Don't expect too much, but it's not so bad.
2 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Recently Viewed