Honeymooners, The Review

"Honeymooners, The" reviews

Movie

Honeymooners, The

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2006-04-10 22:28:12

Rating

1.5/5

Provider

CinemaSource

Review

While TV's Ralph Kramden often threatened to send his irascible wife, Alice, to the moon with one punch to the kisser, don't expect any spousal abuse in the mushy, pedestrian and totally unnecessary big-screen version of The Honeymooners.

Story

No, instead of wanting to knock her block off, New York City bus driver Ralph Kramden (Cedric the Entertainer) sweetly offers to take his soon-to-be longsuffering wife, Alice (Gabrielle Union), to the moon, promising her he'll be making it very big very soon. Six years into the marriage, Ralph is still driving a bus, Alice is a waitress, and the two live in a rundown tenement apartment. But Ralph hasn't given up on his dreams to take his family to the next level. He is convinced he is just one great idea away from instant wealth and elicits help from his encouraging, if slightly ditzy, best friend and upstairs neighbor, Ed Norton (Mike Epps). He's always there to lend a hand when Ralph goes off halfcocked on another half-baked idea. But Alice has set her sights on a more practical goal: buying a duplex fixer-upper with Ed and his wife, Trixie (Regina Hall). And when Ralph expectedly loses their down payment on yet another failed project, he has to come up with the cash right quick before Alice sends him to the moon. Without a space suit. Let the hilarity ensue!

Acting

The one saving grace to this Honeymooners redo is the casting. Cedric the Entertainer is a perfect fit as Ralph Kramden, a blustering blowhard with a heart of gold. Although the actor claims he steered away from doing an impression of the late Jackie Gleason, who immortalized the role way back when, Cedric still can't help but slip into the Great One's persona every once in awhile, especially when yelling ''Norton!'' And the hilarious Epps, as the bumbling but sweet Ed, makes an ideal sidekick, like Art Carney did in the original. Adding to the fracas is John Leguizamo. He plays a streetwise conman who hustles the boys into believing he's a dog trainer after Ralph comes up with the brilliant plan to race Ed's dog, a stray they find in an alley. Don't ask. Whether it's the three of them, or just Cedric and Epps, you just know there had to have been a lot of extra takes. Their antics are hysterical, and it looks like they are constantly trying to crack each other up. The girls, on the other hand, don't look like they are having as much fun. They're relegated to pointing their fingers at their husbands and warning them not to screw up. Right, like that's going to happen.

Direction

The original The Honeymooners changed the course of television in the 1950s by becoming the first smash hit sitcom. Turning this slice of American history into a contemporary feature film, however, is definitely one of those why-mess-with-a-good-thing? scenarios. Director John Schultz (Like Mike) does an adequate job maneuvering the mix of comic talents and letting them each do their thing. But overall, it's a bland, run-of-the-mill comedy. The film could have easily been made without having any Honeymooner icons attached to it at all and it would have been the same. And the most amazing thing is that it is without any of the original's mean-spiritedness. I mean, even for a time where America was at a supposed height of conservatism, there were moments in the show in which you thought Ralph might actually haul off and smack Alice. Gleason really did have one of the best wild-eyed, don't-push-me-too-far stares. In the watered-down, sappy remake, however, Ralph is a pussycat who only wants to make his wife proud of him. Gag.

Bottom Line

Although The Honeymooners will more than likely produce a few chuckles, especially if you stay through the credits to watch the outtakes, it certainly isn't a tribute to the classic original.

Copyright © CinemaSource 2006.

Movie

THE HONEYMOONERS

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2005-10-25 21:09:37

Provider

MRIB

Review

One day, when every half-remembered TV show has been remade for the big screen, Hollywood will hopefully learn how to have original thoughts once more. Till then, however, we are left with films such as The Dukes Of Hazzard, Bewitched and soon Miami Vice!

And of course The Honeymooners, which is ostensibly an updating of the 1950s US sitcom of the same name (which was the inspiration for The Flintstones) starring Jackie Gleason. The first question which begs itself is who is this remake actually for? Folk who can remember the show are surely not the target audience of a movie starring rotund funnyman Cedric The Entertainer (he may have to think about changing that surname) and today's hip young gunslingers are hardly going to be motivated by a domestic 'comedy' whose politics and mores - it's dangerously close to misogyny in places - are outdated

The aforementioned Cedric stars as New York bus driver Ralph, a loveable loser who lurks from one harebrained get-rich-quick scheme to another without ever seeing his lucky ticket come in. However, when his long-suffering wife Alice (Gabrielle Union) decides that she wants to buy a house, Ralph and his hapless buddy Ed (Mike Epps) have to come up with $20,000 in two weeks to secure Alice's dream home.

This naturally leads to ever more extravagant and implausible attempts at landing the cash, including a woefully unfunny cameo from John Leguizamo. If it's comedy you're after, go see the far superior The 40-Year-Old Virgin. If it's half-hearted attempts at something jovial, walk right in.

By the way, that sound you hear is the bottom of a very long barrel finally being scrapped

Copyright © MRIB 2005.