The funny thing about comedies is how hard it is to be funny in a film.
There isn’t really a designed method to it. There really aren’t rules. In the early days of sound films, the Marx Brothers would basically take a show on the road, find out what got laughs and what didn’t, fine tune it to a fever pitch, and bam – you have a film comedy.
I love recommending another take to a film that’s about another take, after another and another and another.
“Groundhog Day” just may be the best Bill Murray comedy, and that’s a pretty high standard. It’s probably in a fourway cluster at the top of my favorites (with “Meatballs”, “Caddyshack and “Scrooged”) but this is his crowning achievement.
There was a time when Eddie Murphy was the single most talented new force in film. Although not my absolute favorite Eddie Murphy film, “Beverly Hills Cop” remains a great example of a film that is absolutely nothing without its star.
As the story goes, “Beverly Hills Cop” wasn’t even supposed to be a comedy. Picture Sylvester Stallone as Axel Foley.
Sly went on to do “Cobra” and the studio brought in Eddie Murphy, saving about $10 million and grossing over $150 million more in box office receipts.