4 recensioni
- mark.waltz
- 8 lug 2012
- Permalink
Yes, this presents the worst of manhood and, we're supposed to believe that this 'zany' Italian woman is the much needed ying to his yang?
She drove me nuts from her first word spoken...which is completely in Italian, which, apparently makes it funny...when she just raised my blood pressure with every second of her screen time.
It's not funny, no matter how much they try to play off the 'bachelor who never really realised what he 'needed'', against that zany and over-the-top...but entirely insufferable Italian mumma/wife/sexual goddess.
I hated them both, and felt that they both deserved each other in relationship hell.
...a terribly average film on EVERY level.
She drove me nuts from her first word spoken...which is completely in Italian, which, apparently makes it funny...when she just raised my blood pressure with every second of her screen time.
It's not funny, no matter how much they try to play off the 'bachelor who never really realised what he 'needed'', against that zany and over-the-top...but entirely insufferable Italian mumma/wife/sexual goddess.
I hated them both, and felt that they both deserved each other in relationship hell.
...a terribly average film on EVERY level.
- leishayoung
- 9 set 2021
- Permalink
The provocative title of this movie grabbed my attention and I was expecting a dark comedy with some dramatic elements. Instead, I sat through a silly, unfunny, and uninspired film with little to no redeeming qualities.
The story starts with a fourth wall-breaking narration from Jack Lemmon's butler. Breaking the fourth wall is a pet peeve of mine and always comes across as kitschy, which was the first red flag. The sequence of Lemmon's character, a cartoonist, physically acting out and photographing scenes that he would later recreate for his strip was corny as well.
By the time we meet his Italian stripper bride, this film had already lost me. Virna Lisi's overacting was unbearable and what was left of the story devolved into utter nonsense. To be honest, I had to turn this off halfway through so I am not sure where it went from there, nor do I care.
The only reason I'm giving this two stars instead of one is because I'm a sucker for early 60s technicolor. While the film itself was unwatchable, the luscious colors and soft textures are always something I can appreciate from this era. Lemmon's character also had a cool apartment and I also enjoyed the exterior shots of 60s NYC as well.
Don't waste your time on this dud, though, when there are dark comedies from this time period with more edge, humor, and quality acting. This film has almost nothing going for it.
The story starts with a fourth wall-breaking narration from Jack Lemmon's butler. Breaking the fourth wall is a pet peeve of mine and always comes across as kitschy, which was the first red flag. The sequence of Lemmon's character, a cartoonist, physically acting out and photographing scenes that he would later recreate for his strip was corny as well.
By the time we meet his Italian stripper bride, this film had already lost me. Virna Lisi's overacting was unbearable and what was left of the story devolved into utter nonsense. To be honest, I had to turn this off halfway through so I am not sure where it went from there, nor do I care.
The only reason I'm giving this two stars instead of one is because I'm a sucker for early 60s technicolor. While the film itself was unwatchable, the luscious colors and soft textures are always something I can appreciate from this era. Lemmon's character also had a cool apartment and I also enjoyed the exterior shots of 60s NYC as well.
Don't waste your time on this dud, though, when there are dark comedies from this time period with more edge, humor, and quality acting. This film has almost nothing going for it.
- imdbfan-0182273799
- 19 apr 2025
- Permalink
To call this 1965 "comedy" dated is like saying the Titanic experienced a minor navigational hiccup. Of course, one expects a certain level of '60s "patriarchy" - women as decorative sex symbols who also serve up generous portions of Italian cuisine. But even by the standards of its time, this film feels like it's been fossilized.
The real crime here isn't just the rampant sexism, which is hardly surprising, but the fact that the movie is about as funny as a root canal. There's exactly one clever idea: Stanley Ford, our insufferable hero, is a cartoonist who feels compelled to perform whatever ludicrous stunt his spy character does in his comic strip. Not a bad premise, but it's all downhill from there.
Stanley (played by Jack Lemmon, desperately trying to squeeze laughs from this dry sponge of a script) accidentally marries a stunningly underused Virna Lisi. The film doesn't even bother to give her character a name - why would it, when her sole purpose is to cook, smile, and exist as "Mrs. Ford"? That's character development.
After a painfully long setup, the movie finally arrives at its central plot: Stanley wants to "fictionally" murder his wife in his comic strip. Hilarious, right? The law doesn't find it funny either and mistakes his fictional plot for a real-life confession.
The film drags on far past its expiration date, plagued by lazy jokes, stale gender stereotypes, and a performance by Eddie Mayehoff as Stanley's lawyer that could qualify as psychological torture. His portrayal of Harold, the world's most obnoxious man, will make you want to fast-forward through every scene he's in.
Overlong, unfunny, and as charming as a '60s office memo on acceptable skirt lengths, How to Murder Your Wife isn't just dated; it's downright prehistoric.
The real crime here isn't just the rampant sexism, which is hardly surprising, but the fact that the movie is about as funny as a root canal. There's exactly one clever idea: Stanley Ford, our insufferable hero, is a cartoonist who feels compelled to perform whatever ludicrous stunt his spy character does in his comic strip. Not a bad premise, but it's all downhill from there.
Stanley (played by Jack Lemmon, desperately trying to squeeze laughs from this dry sponge of a script) accidentally marries a stunningly underused Virna Lisi. The film doesn't even bother to give her character a name - why would it, when her sole purpose is to cook, smile, and exist as "Mrs. Ford"? That's character development.
After a painfully long setup, the movie finally arrives at its central plot: Stanley wants to "fictionally" murder his wife in his comic strip. Hilarious, right? The law doesn't find it funny either and mistakes his fictional plot for a real-life confession.
The film drags on far past its expiration date, plagued by lazy jokes, stale gender stereotypes, and a performance by Eddie Mayehoff as Stanley's lawyer that could qualify as psychological torture. His portrayal of Harold, the world's most obnoxious man, will make you want to fast-forward through every scene he's in.
Overlong, unfunny, and as charming as a '60s office memo on acceptable skirt lengths, How to Murder Your Wife isn't just dated; it's downright prehistoric.