I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

I had heard about "The Loved One" while I was in high school but never got a chance to see it during the limited run it had in my area of NYS. Years went by and I kept seeing it pop up on favorite "cult film" lists. Finally, about two years ago I finally got a chance to watch it and loved it. I'm amazed at how irreverent, cynical, and, yes, offensive it is - and just how funny it is, too. The ads for it noted that there was something to offend everyone. After finally seeing it I can definitely agree with the ad campaign. The cast is excellent. Robert Morse's transition from "wide-eyed innocent" to one of the most cynical and opportunistic characters is terrific. I was always a huge Jonathan Winters fan, and always felt that his acting was underrated. (Check him out in "The Twilight Zone" episode about a famous pool player.) The entire British ex-pat group is wonderful. Rod Stieger's turn is phenomenal, particularly when you stop to think that he appeared in "The Pawnbroker" within months of this film. Talk about two widely different roles. Finally, Annjanette Comer's change through the film is great. (By the way, look up the meaning of her character's name sometime. It's a very subtle play on the entire theme of the movie.) This film's greatest problem was that it was released at the wrong time in history. It definitely paved the way for a number of dark, very off-beat comedies that followed, like "Brewster McCloud." I can honestly say that all of those "cult film" lists that had "The Loved One" included were on the mark. You should see this long-overlooked film.

Director Richardson included too much for this film to work. However, the film has wonderful moments. Anjanette Comer's Aimee Thanatogenous self-embalming is the heart of the satire. Unfortunately, Jonathan Winters is, as he too often was, over-the-top and not at all funny in a badly conceived dual role. That we considered that fellow a comedic genius now amazes me.Simply following Evelyn Waugh's delightful book would have insured a much better film. I do not blame Tony Richardson; he directed the masterpiece "The Charge of the Light Brigade". We know that he knew how to make satiric movies. Yet, even in its failure, the film deserves viewing. Maybe the fault is with Terry Southern, who also could do fine work, but did not here. The film is not awful but it is close to awful.

Right up front, let me say I haven't read the book by Waugh, so I don't have any insights along those lines. I'm not sure if I yet have a full grasp of what's going on in the film. But let me describe how it seemed to me and make a few errant stabs at it.First of all, the technical quality of this film is very uneven. Haskell Wexler's photography is often breathtaking, but the dubbing of the movie is just horrible. The whole thing looks post-dubbed, and not very well. For the most part, Tony Richardson's directing is excellent. Robert Morse is fast becoming a favorite of mine after seeing him in this and in "How to Succeed in Advertising." He has a rare kind of spontaneity on screen. Jonathan Winters also gives one of his best performances here, and Rod Steiger really looks like he's enjoying himself and stealing as many scenes as possible, as usual. 4th billed Dana Andrews, however, looks haggard and has nothing to do in the film. John Gielgud and Milton Berle aren't in enough of the movie to make a huge impression, but James Coburn has even less screen time, hilarious though his scene is. I guess good cameos are a mark of quality and possibly even eccentricity. In this case the most eccentric cameo is Liberace playing a coffin salesman. To me, that's a good enough reason to watch the movie.What is this movie really about? Superficially it seems to be about the American attitude about death. I think really it's about greed or self-satisfaction as an ethos in America. As something that you can build your life around. Like Steiger's Mr. Joyboy, tortured to the very last minutes of the film at the thought of giving up his mama's extra-large bathtub so his beloved, Ms. Thanatoginis (Anjanette Comer) can have a "proper" funeral. Speaking of Ms. Thanatoginis (death - Thanatos, that's Greek), she wants nothing but the absolution and beauty of death. Her boyfriend, Morse, apparently understands her so little that he arranges to have her buried in outer space, the manner which would have pleased her the very least. I assume that's part of the point, because Morse's character strikes me as disconnected from everything happening around him that he wants to be a part of.Some of the stuff in this movie, like the grotesquely obese mama Joyboy and Steiger's dance around the kitchen, would be crude if they weren't executed so artfully. There's a heavy mean spiritedness about the film, you wonder if the writers or director appreciated these characters as much as the actors playing the roles. But I suppose it's all in line with the "pull no punches" school of satire.Worth watching, but not indispensable to me.

I can only echo the excellent comments of others who've heaped praise on this unique movie-- it's on my 20-best-ever too, for sure.I do have a kind of eccentric technical point to make that might be of interest, so here goes.One of the reviewers warned of "dubbing and sound issues," but I wonder if a deliberate cinematic trick isn't escaping his notice.Whenever Harry, the pet cemetery owner, is talking to his (evil twin) brother the Blessed reverend, he calls him "Will" (name in the credits is Wilbur)-- but that isn't what his lips are saying! If you watch carefully, there are at least a couple of cases where it looks pretty obvious he is saying "Satan!" Assuming this is true, it's a wonderful subliminal trick possible only in movies-- definitely adds to the hilarious-but-creepy impression of "the Blessed Reverend's" black-helicopter appearances from on high.Anybody else see this? If not, I might just be nuts-- in my comment on the movie "the Third Secret" I noticed another example of just such a use of dubbing to convey a subliminal message. Only in that movie, the "subconscious" word (said by the lips but heard as another word) has to do with a key element in the plot-- namely how many patients the murdered psychiatrist had at the time of his death.In this case the trick is incidental, kind of a throwaway-- one of the many extra touches that are strewn so generously throughout. Or of course it could just be dubbing and soundtrack glitches!