This movie appears to be have been concieved by and for third graders. It's the one of least funny and stupidest movies I have seen in a long time.
It's based on a musical by the supposed genius Stephen Sondiem. I must be an idiot because I have been listing to a lot his music recently and I have absolutley no idea why people drool over his work. His lyrics are okay, I guess, but his tunes aren't that creative or catchy, and his plots strike me as being rather pretencious in a self-conciously hip, liberal way (does anyone actully like Pacific Overtures?) The movie starts with its only okay song, "Comedy Tonight", which was apparently designed to convience the audince that it's okay to have fun at a theatre. This is not a good sign.
And the whole movie is filled with people trying desperately to convince us to have fun. It's set in ancient Rome and stars Zero Mostel, who is usually excellent as Pseudolus (get it?) a slave who is coniving for his freedom. The movie is so fast paced and frentic that I didn't totally understand (or care, for that matter) about the rest of the plot, but there is something about a prostitute (Annette Andre) needing to marry somebody.
The jokes are unbeliavbly lame. I am not exagerating when I say that this is essentially like an episode of Friends transplanted to ancient Rome (Kristen, Carl and Forrest agreed with this statement). The performance are all overdone, with one exception, which will get to later. Since I liked most of the actors in other movies, I'm assuming that this is Lester's fault. Lester also keeps the pace so fast that the story becomes confusing, except when it comes to a halt for a completly uneccessary and uncatchy song.
The one good thing about the movie is the precense of Buster Keaton in his last feature film (his last film appearance was in an infomercial for the Canadian goverment). Although he has a small role and had to use doubles for some of his running shots (he was dying of cancer at the time), he actually bothers to come with a characterization and acts instead of yells. He provides the one moving moment in the film when his old man character is finally reunited with his family. Allthough he's brillance is breataking, it's also kind of sad that he couldn't get the better parts he deserved (it's kind of like watching Orson Welles in The Muppet Movie).
This is a really awful movie based on what I am going to bet is apparently an awful musical. I am not sure if anyone could have made into a good film, but Lester's approach just made it more annoying. Avoid it, sir.
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966)