So much average

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

"She has excellent diphthongs." "Yeah, that's what got her into trouble in the first place!" (To roughly paraphrase.) If you like that kind of comedy, you will love this film.The guy on stage falling over the chair, is always a hoot no matter how many times you see it or have seen it, or anticipate the fall happening. Black bag switcheroo that may contain $50,000 worth of Jewels, or $50,000 cash, or $10 worth of laundry is just a hoot, never mind the obvious factor that each bag would be noticeable by weight. Reality you should want to never interfere with comedy! Somehow, Mob Accountant--Anthony Rossano/Vincent Spano-- stealing $1000,000 from his mob boss (Anthony Provolone/Sylvester Stallone--pronounced Provolon, and incorrectly pronounced by speech coach Dr. Pool/Tim Curry--as the Italian {Provolonay}) and wanting to marry the Mob Bosses daughter, Lisa Provolone/Marissa Tomei, who falsely bruits it about that she is pregnant by said accountant... Well as it is said--What can possibly go wrong? Don Ameche and Kirk Douglas, stalwarts from another film era play important roles.Not only are bags mistaken, so are chickens mistaken for guns--don't ask. Innocuous Italian tailors mistaken as ruthless hit men who boast of the excellent work and highly praised work of mob boss Brazini (?)but actually praising the suit they made and was wearing when he was knifed in the back while dining in a restaurant, with photo from newspaper for proof. And somehow another Provolone daughter, Theresa/Elizabeth Barondes, shows up saying falsely that she is Provolone's daughter cause that was the first name she could think of not realizing he was a mobster, but in reality, Provolone and a long lost maid once joined in conjugal bliss and lo and behold... Well see the movie to learn who is actually marrying whom...Comedy works because nobody stops to inject a dose of reality. Those bags would weigh differently, and it would be noticeable. The Italian mob henchman wearing spats? Italians as cliché mobsters right out of "The Untouchable" (Vendetti ?)TV series of the late fifties. How many weapons can a mobster carry hidden in his suit coat? But the trick is to do all of this shtick with a straight face. And the actors pull off a brilliant piece of comedy straight faced, along with impeccable timing. I saw this charming and hilarious movie when it came out in 1991, and it still is excellent and worth watching. And now available on YouTube.

1930s gangster "Snaps" Provolone makes a deathbed promise to his papa that will he go straight; one month later, with his goons disarmed, Snaps is trying to get on the board of directors of the bank, but his former cronies think he's planning something big; meanwhile, Snaps' sheltered daughter is pretending to be pregnant by Oscar the chauffeur in order to get out of the house. Busy, fairly laughless farce, adapted from Claude Magnier's play by Michael Barrie and Jim Mulholland, hopes to evoke the screwball comedies of the '30s and '40s, but needed a far more nimble touch (and a likable troupe of players) to succeed. Here, director John Landis plays traffic manager with his hammy cast, encouraging them to flail away and mug without funny characterizations (it's all gangster shtick). An over-rehearsed Sylvester Stallone has the lead; his clipped line readings aren't fresh, and one can see right away that henchman Chazz Palminteri would do much better with the part (Palminteri's scene emptying his pockets-- a cartoonish, familiar gag--manages to get the biggest laugh). Stallone isn't much of a comedian (he's too heavy-spirited), and "Oscar" isn't much of a comedy, although one can fixated on the picture watching scene after scene fizzle without benefit of precise pacing and delivery. *1/2 from ****

Oscar is a screwball comedy based on the Claude Magnier stage play.It was a remake of the 1967 French film of the same title with the settings moved to the Depression era New York City.Its central character is on a mob boss trying to go straight. It stars Sylvester Stallone in the title role together with Marisa Tomei, Ornella Muti, Tim Curry, and Chazz Palminteri. Angelo "Snaps" Provolonep made a promise that he would reform his life and give up his involvement with criminal activities upon the death of his father.Unfortunately,there are a variety of personal and professional obstacles that he must go through.Among them is that he needs lots of money since he is getting married soon.His accountant asked him for a raise.Later,he discovered that his daughter got pregnant.And there are more.Critics thrashed Oscar and compared Stallone to comedy as one movie writer would put it,"Stallone is to comedy as John Goodman is to ballet".But despite the fact that he isn't a comic genius,he definitely can go through gags and made fun of by others without getting mad.In other words,he can tolerate how others would treat him.Unfortunately,this movie became a traumatic experience for him that he gave up comedy and never did a comedic film again.But nevertheless,it was still a funny film that would enjoy somehow.Regarding Stallone,he was decent in comedy.Too bad many people believed the numerous critics who trashed this film.

"Oscar" is set in a single day and centers around a central location in the period of the early '30s: the mansion of going-straight mob boss Angelo "Snaps" Provolone.The environment is a tangled web of confusing and conflicting circumstances, all done with purposeful absurdity and silliness. New challenges and complications muddy up the day of Snaps attempting to lead the honest life after giving one last request to his dying father. Can he do it? Well, maybe if he manages to settle down and think apart from so many building distractions, such as dealing with anyone from his spoiled daughter and pestering son-in-law-to-be to his simple henchmen that need looking after and wising up.The flow starts to feel routine and eventually claustrophobic due to seeing the same do-nothing areas, as well as the situational humor eventually turns tedious from watching similar gags run their course. Minor characters stand apart such as the informant "Five Spot Charlie" with his eccentric lip smacking and stuttering; Chazz Palminteri plays a hit-man who tears up to touching events. Though the laughs don't always come so easily with "Oscar" compared to other Landis films like "Animal House," "Three Amigos," "Coming to America," "Trading Places" and even "American Werewolf" considered.This is a movie that relies heavily on its situations and characters--since it was modeled after a stage play--however some of the cast aren't so hysterical that it radiates across the screen to make a viewer instantly loosen up and go with its zaniness. Stallone, for instance, frequently uses this kind of booming intonation like a professional wrestler to show aggravation; it's commanding, but not for comedy's sake. This had potential to be a breezy if still fun film, though some sparks went missing to clench a solid pacing and the movie in turn felt up and down. Had it one moment, gone flat the next.