A Major Disappointment

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Anytime the genre listed for a movie is comedy/history, I will watch it, and hopefully I will be as pleased with the outcome as I was when I watched Bud Yorkin's 1970 feature Start the Revolution Without Me. Gene Wilder and Donald Sutherland band together in an attempt to explain the French Revolution through a zany switched-at- birth tale. In this telling, the two principles are switched at birth with another set of twins and are responsible for beginning and ending the French Revolution. The pages of history have never been more fun to turn as they were in Start the Revolution Without Me. On the evening, before the French Revolution began, two sets of twins were born in the same house, to two completely different families. One aristocratic family stopped at the home of the doctor because they couldn't make it to their destination. Inside the home, the doctor was delivering a set of babies of a poor peasant family. In a hilarious mishap, the doctor and his team mismatched the babies before returning them to their families. Years later, we see the first set of mismatched twins as members of the resistance, sort of, stealing their way through existence. The other set of twins, the Corsican brothers, French royalty. When the King wishes to meet with the Corsican brothers, they oblige, passing through the area the peasants are inhabiting in that moment. When unrest breaks out, the Corsican brothers, disguised as peasants, are mistaken for the real peasant brothers and taken as prisoners, whereas the real peasants are taken to the king. The remainder of the movie unfolds as history does around the two sets of brothers both trying to figure out why they are in the situation they're in and how to get out of it. The rest, as they say, is history.Well hello, Orson Welles! Opening the film as a narrator for the historical adaptation being told, Welles was a surprise and treat for the film. I've seen Gene Wilder, well, in everything he's ever been in, so I knew he could do comedic acting; I was impressed and surprised to see Donald Sutherland in a comedic role. I am not as well-versed with his filmography to know if he has done comedic roles well, but he was wonderful in Start the Revolution Without Me. I can't imagine the level of difficulty for an actor to play two opposite roles in a film. Bud Yorkin's film shows what talent Gene Wilder and Donald Sutherland have that they can do both roles as well as the other. Neither set of twins faltered in this piece, as they often do in other films, and that fact can only be attributed to the caliber of actors involved. It was a treat to see Gene Wilder fencing so much in this movie! As a fan of Wilder's, I've read in his memoir that he taught fencing in college and was adept at the sport. It's always fun to see him fencing in movies and to watch his unique skill on screen. I always figuratively hold my breath through these movies with a mistaken identity theme running through them, because they depend so much upon the reveal of identities. A rushed reveal can really dampen the entire film in a movie like this; fortunately, Start the Revolution Without Me did not fall victim to the rushed identity reveal, and held well until the end. The reveal was just as fun as the film, leaving viewers happy they invested the time into this 1970 gem.Gene Wilder was wonderful in another role in which he shared the lead. Wilder rose to leads incredibly quickly, considering this was only his third film. Of course, Wilder is more well known for his collaborative efforts throughout his career, but his overlooked movies are often my favorite, Start the Revolution Without Me being one of them. It is great to see what he can do all on his own in a film like this. Wilder never disappoints, and neither does his performance in Start the Revolution Without Me.

To put it simply, this movie is outrageous. It flopped during its theater tenure because everyone was too high-strung over Vietnam and other period conflicts to actually understand this comedy. This fact is also touched on during the commentary by the director himself."Revolution" is in the same league as the Zucker Brothers. It's gags gain momentum as the movie unwinds, until it's whipping around during the last few scenes almost out of control, yet marvelously in control.This is a movie that has Gene Wilder at his comic peak. He's pre-Wonka and pre-"FrankenSTEEN" here, and hasn't found temperance in his angry hysteria. I've watched this movie close to 15 times, and I can't handle myself when Wilder is galloping around with his stuffed falcon. And the gags in his marriage! "Bring the leather and the honey ... " (His character's wife looks at the camera with a look of worry).Donald Sutherland is reserved, but he's not well known for his comedy. Yet he has excellent moments, especially in strangling adversaries on the dock with one hand! "...and I shall be the Queeeeen!" The funniest pieces here are actually the lines. Read the quotes! Oh my, a gold mine!

I loved this movie and it's one of my all-time favorite comedies, though I realize it is NOT for everyone's taste.To enjoy this movie, you MUST have a high tolerance for the weird and silly. So, this means that the movie would go over well with Monty Python fans but would not appeal to most teenagers or those who MUST view only conventional comedies.The plot is a hopeless mish-mash of both Alexander Dumas' books and French history. Is it historically accurate? Not even close!! But, its non-stop energy and weirdness is VERY infectious if you give it a chance. The story begins with the Count DeSisi and his wife stopping at a country doctor's home as the Countess is about to give birth. Only minutes later, a commoner, Mr. Coupe arrives with his extremely pregnant wife as well. BOTH women give birth to identical twins but the babies are mismatched and both families raise both a DeSisi AND a Coupe child.Years pass until the poor Coupes are mistaken for the highly dangerous (and psychotic) DeSisis--and then the fun begins!!! People who would like this film are also those who love The Producers, Monty Python and the Hold Grail and Strange Brew. If any of these movies make your head hurt or just don't make sense, then avoid Start the Revoluition Without Me--because it WILL hurt your head and make NOT ONE BIT OF SENSE."Are you HAPPY?!.......You've Broken My Bird!!!"

This film has always had a strange impact on me. When I have seen it in a theatre, the laughter from the audience is second to none. However, when watching it on video, it is boring and not very humorous.Is it possible that slapstick must be shared with several people in order for it to be funny? Certainly, this film is an example of laughter being contagious.The only slapstick movie that I have ever seen that is funny without being around other people is "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World."So, see this only if you can catch it at a theatre.