Very disappointing...

The Age of Commercialism

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I guess I'm glad I only glanced at LA's scandalous Free Press years ago. Because with a telephone, I might have ended on somebody's dinner plate. At least, that's according to Mary and Paul's (note the Biblical names) newest fund raising idea. But what do the wacko Blands (another ironic name) care, as long as their American dream of their own business comes true. What a loopy black comedy this is. It's the LA swingers scene, 1980's style, both front and back, clothed and unclothed. And get a load of Bartel who looks like he should be selling life insurance, except he'd bankrupt the business. On the other hand, there's Woronov, a statuesque figure as his accommodating wife, except her clientele includes Nazis, midgets, Mickey Mouse, Lash LaRue, and other assorted pleasure seekers. It's a riveting flick with lots of sex and about as many chuckles. No doubt about it, the Blands pursue their American dream in truly dedicated fashion, at least as long as a trash compactor is available. Meanwhile, my cooking will include everything but a frying pan and maybe a trip to a rural restaurant. Nonetheless, bon appetite Bartel and co. for an inspired cinematic meal.

This is a wonderfully inventive and clever movie made while the Reagan administration was trying to suppress anything that didn't meet the approval the so-called "Moral Majority" - and in retrospect, I LIKE Reagan! But it was also definitely a time when powerful white people were trying to recreate both the best and worst features of the 1950s. The worst features weren't very pretty.I can't say for sure that there was political satire intended in the film, but just at the right time, here comes a movie that pretty much destroys anything "Happy Days." I mean, where else can you hear a character implore another to "Whip me! Beat me! Make me write bad checks!" It's marvelous. Really, I'm tempted to give it a higher rating to offset the humorless 50s lovers who don't appreciate this work of genius, but it is a low budget "indie" film with all the flaws inherent in the genre. It's not polished, and that is a flaw in any work of art, but really, that's also part of the beauty of the genre as well: what can a filmmaker do within the constraints of a limited budget? So, it's not El Mariachi ... but what else is?It's definitely worth a look, if for nothing else than as a work of superlative satire and subversion, while Ron & Nancy tried to bring back McCarthyism with a friendlier face.

Paul and Mary Bland are a prudish couple living in Hollywood in the 1980's. They are surrounded by sexual perverts and swingers, and dream of moving to a quiet town in the Eastern United States where they can open a nice diner. Unfortunately they are near-broke. They're really likable people but are taken advantage of by everyone in town. Mary is a nurse who has patients following her like wolves, and a bank teller tries to rape her. Paul is ridiculed for being honest to his customers at the liquor store, and when he tries to sell some of his beloved wine collection to get money for the diner, it is stolen from him.One day the couple accidentally murders a swinger who broke into their apartment, and they take his money and toss the body in the trash compactor. They soon plan to put a fake sex ad in one of the pervy town magazines to lure new victims in and steal their money, and get advice from Doris, a nice and friendly housewife who spends her nights as 'Doris the Dominatrix' to make money to raise her baby. They also hire a Hispanic locksmith named Raoul. That night they kill a fat rich man with a Nazi fetish, and Raoul (not a locksmith but a burglar), breaks in and comes across the body, as well as the apartment, which is decorated with swastikas brought over by the Nazi fetishist. The Blands catch Raoul and are about to kill him, but he makes a sleazy deal with them that bring Paul and Mary into a world they'd never before stepped foot in, while also getting the cash for their diner down-payment.Eating Raoul is hilarious! The acting is great, the soundtrack is funny and suits the movie really well and the plot is really original. This black comedy has been one of my favorite movies since I was thirteen, it has some strong language but for the subject matter it deals with, that's understandable, it isn't enough to wreck the movie. Some of the swingers that the couple encounters are very funny; there's a hippie, a Nazi, a midget cowboy with a large pet dog, and many more weirdos. In the end, Paul and Mary get their diner.It's a great movie, it's impossible not to enjoy watching it!

Paul and Mary Bland (Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov) do everything right. They're neat freaks, they collect good wines and serve the best food to their guests, and they sleep in individual beds just like the Nelsons on TV. Basically they're an "ideal" 1950s couple, transplanted into a cruddy apartment building full of swingers and drug addicts. Their only dream is to own a bed and breakfast in the country, and they invent a devious scheme to rob the swingers en masse. After all, why should they continue to suffer for playing by the rules, when everyone else is just so disgusting. Paul and Mary were meant for each other, and they are determined to live their dream.It's a very funny movie, and it has the consistency of style that marks Bartel as one of the most interesting directors working in "shlock." He doesn't condescend towards his own characters, and that makes the film hold up despite the weird situations that develop. And he's not afraid to make something tacky look tacky. But there's nothing "fake" about Paul and Mary Bland -- Paul truly is an expert on wine, and Mary's not a bad cook. They aren't delusional like a lot of characters in satire are.The actual scam seems to involve no risk. Nobody is able to withstand Paul and his deadly frying pan (shades of "Bucket of Blood" here -- this is almost a 1980s remake of that Corman classic). But Raoul (Robert Beltran) ignites the fire of sexual passion in Mary's bosom, and threatens the marriage albeit briefly. What I find interesting about the whole situation is that Raoul is totally convinced that Paul is a complete cuckold and that he's very naive. Meanwhile Paul institutes his own reign of terror on Raoul, convincing him that he has a VD, and Mary ultimately shows loyalty to her "perfect mate." So it's actually the ridiculously and almost stereotypically passionate "latin lover" Raoul who is the naive one. Paul and Mary Bland have a relationship that seems ridiculous and screams out to be made fun of, but it's the one thing that this film refuses to ridicule. And that's what holds the entire film together.