1979 / 146 Minutes / PG
Reviewed by Dale Nauertz

Okay, okay, I know it’s one of the biggest bombs of all time. It was one of the few times that Spielberg faltered, and it was just about time. He was, after all, coming off two of the most successful movies of all time, “Jaws” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”. The film critics and audiences of America had put him on a pretty high pedestal.

And now it was time to knock him off. To wipe that triumphant, if hard-earned, grin from his face. And they got their chance with “1941″.

It isn’t the funniest film of all time. It isn’t even in the running.

But I found quite a lot to like about this movie all the same, even if I did get the feeling that I really shouldn’t be liking it. This is one of those movies I really get a kick out of, yet am sorta ashamed to admit to. But I can’t deny the fact that I do get a fair share of amusement out of the whole thing, and I think that is what the movie is supposed to do.

First, the negatives. The film is not really all that streamlined. Gags don’t flow from one to another so much as they just pile up. One jokes is laid atop another and so on and so on, but without much order. It’s kinda like putting together a house without following the blueprints very closely. It might work, but it probably won’t look the best, and you run the risk of having the whole damn thing come tumbling down on you.

A lot of the gags work in this film, but many of them just seem forced. The script is written by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, and it has a lot of energy. Too much, maybe. Many of the situations will be recognizable to any fan of their later work (the “Back to the Future” films, “Used Cars”, etc.) Example: the character that Treat Williams plays is like the rough blueprint of Biff Tannen, the dense villain of the “Back to the Future” films. But he is not quite as amusing, as funny or as wonderfully and colorfully dense as Biff. He’s cartoonish. And there was something of a cartoon to Biff, as well, but it was balanced out by a lot of human characteristics. Here, Treat plays it a little too broadly. So does Tim Matheson, as a general’s aide who seems more concerned about making love to the general’s secretary than anything going on in the war. He seems like the smooth operator from “Animal House” without any of the qualities that make that character realistic. He is a sketch, really, and not much more.

When a character is defined solely by one characteristic, it isn’t that great of a character.

Same with a lot of the other characters, most of them, in fact. They have one characteristic and that is about all they are given.

So, what the hell do I like about the movie?

Well, I like it because all it does is provide a lot of fun. Sure, the characters are little more than cartoons, but cartoon characters can be amusing too. The premise is intriguing and a neat framework for the jokes: after Pearl Harbor, a lot of characters are paranoid and keyed up thinking that the Japanese are going to attack Los Angeles next. The actors are fun to watch, even if they aren’t given the meaty material they usually get. The special effects and model work is very good and the action sequences are a joy to behold. The battle between the army and the navy in a crowded USO club is delightful. So is John Belushi and his attempts to shoot down a “Jap plane” that happens to contain two horny Americans.

And the John Williams score is downright beautiful. It is far too good for this movie, in fact. The march he wrote for this movie ranks among his best film score work, and that is quite an achievement.

It is not perfect, not by a long shot, but it has a great deal of energy, a lot of oomph and it’s a great opportunity to see a lot of talent in its early, blossoming stages, before it finally figured out what it was really doing and got its act together. Even in its original, rough form, these minds generated some real entertainment. It’s one of my guilty pleasures, but it’s a pleasure nonetheless.

NOTE: If at all possible, see this film on DVD and watch the documentary on the making of the film. It features interviews with Robert Zemeckis, Steven Spielberg, Bob Gale, John Milius (who was involved in this the same year he was involved in “Apocalypse Now”, how’s that for variety?) and others. It is utterly fascinating, not to mention funnier than most of the movie itself. The disc also contains a longer cut of the film that fleshes out the characters a little more and also makes a lot more sense.

However, even with these benefits, the film still won’t win any awards.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 23rd, 2001 at 3:35 pm and is filed under Dale's Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.