An Exercise In Nonsense

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Timothy Dalton's greatest acting achievement. In his mid-thirties, Dalton kept a straight face as he promised his undying love to Mae West, in her mid-eighties. West looked great for an octogenarian, but not THAT good. West played the legendary Mae West with all the usual Mae Westisms, a litany of lusty sexual innuendos. A cornucopia of crazy cameos cracking corny jokes that might have been cute if West had only been 30 or 40 years younger. The central theme is that West is everyone's heart-throb, from teens to crotchety old Walter Pidgeon (who was still her junior!). Hard to buy. Some merit, some (emphasis SOME) humor, and bits of some of the song and dance routines deserve being parts of better movies, but no awards for this one.

Okay, so I'm a big movie buff & I just HAD to say I've seen this movie at least ONCE! Unfortunately, once was certainly more than enough.Really bad movie here with not even enough 'kitsch' or 'camp' to make it worthwhile.While the movie is certainly presented tongue in cheek, it still relies to heavily on the idea that Mae West at 85 is somehow still a desirable sexy vamp.Sorry but it just don't wash! Adding insult to injury is the fact that again, at 85, Mae West delivers all her lines in basically the same delivery: basically a parody of her earlier self.So in many respects the movie comes off as rather gruesome.If it had gone more over the top, PERHAPS it might have at least achieved some sort of John Waters sensibility.As it is, it plays like one long boring Love Boat episode.Really there is nothing in this movie that merits anyone wasting their time in viewing it.So viewers beware, unless you're some crazy movie fan, who feels the need to cross a movie off his 'never seen list' (like me!!!) than do yourself a favor and skip it.Instead watch Ms. West's films from the 30s. They're actually not all that bad.Don't say you haven't been warned!

I didn't even know that this one was readily available to watch but I immediately snapped it up when I saw it was available for rental from the local DVD store. Actually, I had watched the godawful MYRA BRECKENRIDGE (1970) on TV while I was in Hollywood a few months ago so I was really expecting the worst here. Surprisingly, it turned out to be a fitfully amusing affair…if a completely embarrassing one.Previously, I had only watched Mae West (with whom, I just found out, I happen to share my birthday) in her prime – SHE DONE HIM WRONG (1933), I'M NO ANGEL (1933) and MY LITTLE CHICKADEE (1940) – and I love all three of them. Despite her writing talents, West's main assets were always her figure and appearance so it's no surprise that she bowed out when she did…which, of course, makes her eventual re-emergence as a heavily cosmeticized octogenarian all the more outrageous and baffling! Over the years there have been numerous surprising comebacks in Hollywood – not to mention lavishly produced ego-trips – but I'd bet few reach the level of preposterousness attained by SEXTETTE! Hollywood in the Seventies, among other things, was an era of catastrophic, all-star attempts to recapture past glories particularly its musical heritage and therefore it's small wonder that SEXTETTE ropes in some uncharacteristic cameo appearances by contemporary music stars like Ringo Starr (as an Erich von Stroheim-like director), Keith Moon (as a flamboyant fashion designer) and, weirdest of all, Alice Cooper (as a piano-playing, bellboy crooner sporting a curly-haired wig)! The Beatles also make another appearance of sorts when Mae's agent, Dom DeLuise bursts into an exuberant rendition of Lennon/McCarney's "Honey Pie"…and guess who he was thinking of when he was singing it? Apparently, Miss West wasn't too keen on having these four stealing her limelight… However, she did approve of her leading men who, of course, are requested to still be lusting helplessly after Mae – an aristocratic Timothy Dalton (who gets to sing a duet with Mae and whose remarks are frequently misinterpreted in the press!) and mobster George Hamilton (who is also seen pleading in broken Italian to his "Godfather" - cue the Nino Rota score from that film!! - for the sakes of "Mario…Irving… Mozzarella…Marinara!"); other guest stars who make an appearance are Tony Curtis as a Russian powermonger(!), Walter Pigeon as a bewildered Chairman of the Board and a split-second cameo from George Raft - who co-starred with Mae in her very first film, NIGHT AFTER NIGHT (1932) - as himself.Ken Hughes helmed some good films in his day – THE TRIALS OF Oscar WILDE (1960) and CROMWELL (1970) – but, I guess, the producers of SEXTETTE only knew him from his comedic, big-budget extravaganzas like CASINO ROYALE (1967) and CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG (1968) when they engaged his services for this misbegotten enterprise

This is a film that needs to be watched with your tongue firmly tucked in your cheek - something I wasn't quite aware of even though the very subject matter should hint at this before you even start watching (would a man with the money, status and looks of Sir Michael Barrington really become the sixth husband of a woman old enough to be his grandmother, even if she was as glamorous as Mae West?).Generally, the script is predictable and Mae West is basically playing herself (or sending herself up?) and, as such, makes a very good job of it. I too find it difficult to understand some people's views regarding the idea of an older woman with a younger man or men whilst they are perfectly willing to accept the very same idea but with the genders reversed.However, there are some funny lines, and the odd very funny line and visual gag, often delivered, as would be expected, by Dom Deluise but more often by Timothy Dalton. If nothing else, the film shows his ability as a comic actor. Sir Michael's misunderstood TV interviews are a highlight and had Hugh Laurie been well-known at the time that this film was made, I would have accused Dalton of mimicking Laurie's delivery.The vision of Dalton singing Captain & Tenille's "Love Will Keep Us Together" is almost surreal. I have to admit that I sat open-mouthed for the first 30 seconds. As it happens, he has the fairly good singing voice that his resonant speaking voice would suggest (OK, maybe in need of a bit of vocal training but I am sure Simon Cowell wouldn't describe him as the worst singer he's ever heard in his life - in fact, had he been in the business at the time, he would have probably jumped at the chance to make some money out of a good-looking actor with a reasonable voice!!!).If you're a fan of spoofs, particularly of the cheesy, kitschy variety, you may like it. In all honesty, it is one of the cheesiest, corniest films I have ever seen, rescued by West, Dalton and to a lesser extent Deluise. Those who think it's an attempt at a serious musical with a bit of comedy thrown in will be sorely disappointed.