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All of MeRating:
Release Date: 02 February, 1999 Retail Price: $9.98 OUR Price: $9.98 You SAVE: $0.00! Cast: Complete Cast (11 total) |
All of Me Reviews
A difficult concept beautifully executed
I don't know how receptive the studios were when this story was pitched but the entire concept must have been a hard sell as well as a hard one to write. Through a series of unfortunate incidents, a rich heiress dies and finds her spirit stuck in the body of a lawyer she recently dismissed. The story largely revolves around how the heiress (Tomlin) and the lawyer (Martin) cope with sharing a body (he gets the left half, she gets the right half) and dealing with their disparate personalities.
Since Tomlin is "trapped" inside Martin, the writers and flimmakers had to come up with a means by which the two characters could face each other and offer a feeling that the heiress's presence could be sensed by the audience at all times even when only Martin was on camera. This was brilliantly and deftly done to comedic and sympathetic effect. The characters are not only funny but you feel for them.
In my opinion, this is Steve Martin's finest work (followed by the greatly underrated Bowfinger). He's good when he's dumb but he's great when he's cleverly quipping and being sarcastic (something he doesn't get to do much of anymore in his movies, unfortunately). His physical comedy is so tremendously good that he never makes the viewer doubt for a second that there is someone else in there with him. And, unlike much physical comedy in movies, it doesn't feel contrived or like a pratfall.
Tomlin is also very good as Edwina, the heiress, but she didn't have as demanding a role as Martin. She does succeed very well in making us empathize with someone who initially seems wholly unappealing and has quite a few good, funny lines of her own. There is a courtroom scene where Edwina has to ad lib while Roger (Martin) is asleep which is particularly nice voice work by Tomlin.
The only thing about this movie that I didn't buy 100% was the romantic chemistry between Tomlin and Martin. I believe there was genuine affection between the actors but their rapport strikes one as more fraternal than romantic. Still, it's a minor issue and perhaps only my subjective take.
Good comedy is hard to come by these days so we should take advantage of the rich library of movies from the recent past and I'm pleased this movie has been released on DVD. I can't imagine anyone not laughing out loud plenty while watching "All of Me."
In summary...
Steve Martin's physical comedy doesn't overshadow his character's soul-sharing experience. Lilly Tomlin puts on airs as a dead debutante. The two make an exceptional comedic team. The way they play off one another is what makes this movie fun to watch. Of course, a beautiful two-faced antagonist, a spiritual advisor who speaks broken English and a blind jazzman also help make the movie what it is: a fantastical 1980s comedy with a spirited heart.
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