Strong and Moving!

Just perfect...

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Reviewer Bill Slocum ("Plastered Makes Perfect", Bill Slocum from Greenwich, CT United States, 15 May 2003) has a nice summary with insight in Sid Caesar's troubles later in his career. Also, theowinthrop ("Sid Caesar, Errol Flynn, Mel Brooks, and Jimmy Hoffa meet 'incognito'", theowinthrop from United States, 29 July 2006) has more background information that is interesting to fans of this great movie."My Favorite Year" is at times uproariously funny, poignant and romantic, taking the viewer to great heights within the comedy/romance genre. With adroit skill, Peter O'Toole plays dissolute film legend Alan Swann, a cross between the washed-up, 1950s version of Errol Flynn and O'Toole himself. Hopeless tipper Flynn's booking on comedian Sid Caesar's live TV program is a general inspiration for the almost entirely fictional narrative.This is also a love story, as Mel Brooks-stand-in Benjy Stone (Mark Linn-Baker) succeeds romantically with office co-worker KC Downing (Jessica Harper), thanks largely to the help Swann gives to his young chaperon. The stream of sage wisdom that O'Toole offers Stone about women and getting the most out of life is a very rich cinematic experience. So is the depiction of an actor's torment; as he must perform even when his mental reserves to do so are exhausted.O'Toole did all of his own stunts, which generally are quite dangerous. The finish is a scream; I can't recall anything quite so funny in a long time. If you ever get the opportunity to watch this screened in public, go for it! Mortals!!

I was in Germany when the film came out so didn't see it for the first time until 1984 or so, but I have seen it probably almost every year since then. I should have it memorized by now, but somehow each viewing I find something new and special. I've loved it since the first time I saw it.There is little I can add to the basic story--a washed-up Errol Flynn type of action movie star goes on a live television comedy program in the 1950s. O'Toole is just masterful in the part and according to director Benjamin, he even insisted on doing all his own stunts (some of which were dangerous!). I could believe him as a movie hero and as a real-life washout.Joseph Balogna is just hysterical as the Sid Caesar TV star, rough, bombastic, occasionally mean, but kind under the crust, and utterly fearless. I grinned at every sight of him.Mark Linn-Baker is superb as the kid from Brooklyn who finds himself rubbing shoulders with his childhood hero and discovering the statue has feet of clay. His embarrassment over his background and his weird family rings true and yet are hilarious; I forget the name of the actress who plays his mother, but she is screamingly funny.I just can't say how much I love this movie, how inspiring I find it, how it touches my heart. But it's my favorite movie, and in a house where we own something like 5,000 movies and most of our conversations contain at least one movie quote, this film is quoted almost daily, so that's saying something.

So says Alan Swann and he is so right. Peter O'Toole shows that there is a great actor inside of a great comedic performance. His remarkable portrayal of Swann stands out among all his other performances because Swann, in so many ways, is a thinly veiled O'Toole. His timing, physical grace and delivery rival the all time greats including Chaplin, Laurel, and Gleason. The pacing, casting and plot are expertly woven by director Richard Benjamin to create an inside look at early T. V. production and a crazy Jewish family. The scene of Swan attending dinner in Brooklyn with staff writer Benjy Stone's family is one of the funniest in screen history due in equal parts to the fantastic performances of O'Toole, Lou Jacobi (as a scene-stealing "Uncle Mortie") and Lainie Kazan as the mother of all Jewish mothers. As Swann, O'Toole manages to be loathsome, endearing, infuriating, charming and vulnerable. Kudos to Bill Macy as Benjy's crass boss and Joseph Bologna as the hot-tempered but indomitable King Kaiser. My Favorite Year never disappoints in delivering laughs and perhaps a sentimental tear as well.

Sweet comedy about 50s television (specifically 'Your Show of Shows'), and the week that a fading film great (clearly based on Errol Flynn) guest stars. A simply terrific comic performance by Peter O'Toole as the almost washed up star, close to matched in a supporting role by Joe Bologna as a tough cantankerous Sid Cesar stand in. On the other hand, there's something of the feeling of a TV sitcom to a lot of it, with stagy blocking, and obvious schmaltz. And some of the supporting characters are out of another movie, just a little too cartoony to fit with the broad, but reality based leads. My feelings about the film are also affected by the fact that I remember the script, with it's more bittersweet ending, as having more heart and soul than the final product. None-the-less, this is a charming, well-acted comedy, and deserves it's good reputation.