What's the AFI Project, you ask? For more information, or if you just enjoy my bemused ramblings, read here: http://www.spout.com/blogs/pippin06/archive/2008/3/1/25756.aspx
Dr. Strangelove... is on the following AFI lists:
The Original Top 100 (#26)
100 Funniest Films (#3)
100 Movie Quotes (#64 - President Merkin Muffley: "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!")
The Revised Top 100 (#39)
Living in theater world agan, I had several false starts over the past two weeks with Dr. Strangelove, also Netflix's weekly arrival (but, you know, not this week). It wouldn't be the first time I had false starts with this movie. I'm quite sure I've watched this before, some years ago, on the television, like on Turner Classics. The trouble is, I didn't remember a lick of it, which is why I say "viewingish" in the title line above. This is one of the few movies wherein I watched it a first time and took nothing away from it when I watched it before. I probably didn't think it was all that funny before (I know, gasp, pant, tomatoes). I'm revising that opinion just now, of course...at least somewhat....
It's rated so highly on the AFI Comedy list, and many Spouters and other esteemed movie-lovers seem to think that this film is the bees' knees. Truth be told, I've decided that this is a movie where you really have to be paying attention to appreciate everything in it. The comedy is certainly there, but most of it is clever, even sneaky. It's funny, certainly, but it's not the laugh riot I expected, at least not for me. I have theories about that.
The plot is mad as a hatter, though, which I definitely like. Co-written and directed by Stanley Kubrick, during the height of the Cold War, this film satirizes not only the period but war in general. A crazy general named Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden), believing his fluids (possibly sexual) are jeopardized by the dangers of Communism, authorizes the Air Force to drop H-bombs on Russia through the mysterious Plan R. One of the planes is piloted by a Major Kong (King Kong, that is - Slim Pickens) and is staffed by James Earl Jones - and also contains a stockpile of nuclear missiles. President Merkin Muffley (Peter Sellers) and a large assembly of the joint military chiefs in a Pentagon war room, are put out by this psychotic initiative and try to make good with Russia. In the meantime, Colonel Lionel Mandrake (also Peter Sellers), an officer on loan from the Royal Air Force in England, hearing no news about this potential crisis, tries to calm General Ripper down when he realizes that he's just a little batty, and a retired Nazi, self-titled Dr. Strangelove (also Peter Sellers), attempts to paint the glass half-full picture of a nuclear war with his unusual expertise.
This film is sometimes too clever for its own good, but I will say that while the satire of the Cold War is somewhat dated, the satire of ineffectual government and half-cocked military personnel is spot-on and will probably be as timeless as it is timely for decades to come. The reason why this film is as funny as it is? Two words: Peter. Sellers. I love him in most everything I've seen him, but his appearances times three in Dr. Strangelove are what punctuates the zaniness of the other characters in addition to his own hilarious sense of comic timing. I especially enjoyed him as stuffy British Colonel Mandrake, playing scared straight man to General Ripper as he waxed on about the danger to his bodily fluids. Actually, Sterling Hayden was also hilarious. Those scenes proved to be my favorites hands down. The whole all-star ensemble was worth its weight in gold, though.
And, of course, the mark of Stanley Kubrick's genius can be found in the details. The art direction was particularly impressive in the war room and in major Kong's fighter plane, and the use of lighting in the war room and in General Ripper's office was extremely effective in painting a picture of seriousness amidst a cloud of tongue-in-cheekyness. Also, the pacing was very tight, though there was a lot of time spent on the random slackerness of the air force personnel in the plane that could have been tighter. Still, the ending scenes are downright classic, and it's hard to argue with the film's positioning on some of the AFI's greatest lists.
So why didn't I laugh more or love this movie as much as the next Jack and Jill Spouter? Well, I think it all boils down to the fact that war movies are among my bottom three least favorite genres, and a satire of a war movie only serves to make the subject slightly more appealing. Also, like I said, you really have to be paying attention. The truly brilliant comedy catches you off guard, in little comments and labels the characters make or use, or little visual gaffes that flit in and out of frame. The humor themes rely heavily on irony, and you can't be lolling off to sleep, or you'll miss them. That's not to say that I was lolling off to sleep (at least not the most recent time I watched it to completion), but I was kind of trying to follow the crazy while simultaneously appreciating subtle jokes: "There's no FIGHTING in the WAR ROOM."
Dr. Strangelove is an intelligent comedy and is best enjoyed when you want to laugh and think all at the same time. My unfortunate problem is that I was too tired to manage both, so I was hoping for more easy laughter. That was my mistake, I guess, but at least I'll remember the film more this time. Still, in the land of ratings, I'm finding myself leaning on an 8.5 (which is on the like/love boundary, by the way, as I really can't say I loved this film - and for the one minor flaw as stated above). Also, I'm not so sure it passes the test, but I will probably try to watch it again in the future. I'm guessing this is one of the films that actually holds up better on repeat viewings. I'm just not sure I want to invest in it to see if that's true. So, maybe it'll come on Turner Classics again, and when it does, I'll be sure to pay attention.