SKIN DEEP (1989)

Current critical thinking on writer/director Blake Edwards holds that after hitting a four-film peak at 60 (REVENGE OF THE PINK PANTHER; 10; S.O.B.; VICTOR/VICTORIA), he more or less ran out of gas, stuck on Mid-Life crises plots and living off fumes in posthumous Peter Sellers PINK PANTHER pics.  (MICKI +  MAUDE/’84, which he didn’t write, excepted.*)  And while there’s some truth in that, SKIN DEEP, once past a first act with too many lame gags and sub-Neil Simon banter, pulls together impressively.  Perhaps because Edwards was to a large extent correcting his unhappy remake of François Truffaut’s THE MAN WHO LOVED WOMEN.  Basically, hire gifted farceur John Ritter in place of Burt Reynolds.  Ritter, self-entombed in a vicious cycle of booze & broads, uses his addiction to avoid writing his new novel or committing to a relationship.  The unapologetic hedonistic tone, unusual for the period, now looking refreshingly smutty.  No 'tasteful' sex for Edwards, in his films, only compositions are tasteful!  And what a joyous collection of immaculate long takes and two-shots, especially for slapstick comedy.  Much will look familiar from other Edwards pics, but Ritter gives it a fresh angle, and all the men are memorable.  (The women, other than Nina Foch's MIL, significantly less so.)  And before he heals himself, four or five superb, vanity-free set pieces for Ritter who’s game for anything.  Most infamously in a BlackOut sketch for a couple of erections sheathed by glow-in-the-dark condoms; even better a tour de force physical bit for Ritter jerking uncontrollably after getting a free sample of ‘revenge massage’ therapy.  Ritter’s playing should have been far more celebrated; so too the film.

DOUBLE-BILL/LINK:  *As a comparison, see MICKI & MAUDE for the scenes between Dudley Moore & BFF Richard Mulligan.  Here, equivalent chats are split: Ritter and sympathetic barkeep Vincent Gardenia/Ritter and seen-it-all psychiatrist Michael Kidd.    https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2013/05/micki-maude-1984.html

SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY/LINK:  Edwards delivers ‘Noises Off’ gags like nobody’s business.  See how he makes it look easy here in two sound-effects only car crashes.  Or for a whole course in such things, BLIND DATE/’87, a silly film designed to make Bruce Willis fit for the big screen, is a compendium of perfectly run slapstick filming techniques.  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2017/02/blind-date-1987.html

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID:  Fans of ABBOTT ELEMENTARY, look fast for Sheryl Lee Ralph in a rare early film role.