An American Carol

Viewed: theater

Since I’ve suddenly found myself with more free time than usual during the weekdays, I checked out the local movie listings for something to enjoy in the middle of the day when I would normally be at the office. The name “Zucker” got my attention on An American Carol.

I’ve always loved movies by the Zucker brothers — Airplane, Naked Gun, etc. In fact, my very first movie review on this site was of a Zucker movie: The Kentucky Fried Movie. So I figured I really should see this new production.

Unfortunately, having experience with the earlier Zucker works seems to weaken the humor of seeing the later work. Many of the gags, I’ve seen before. Many of the jokes are repeats with contemporary references. I didn’t laugh as continuously with this movie as I did when I first saw Airplane and Naked Gun.

But there are still a lot of really funny, laugh out loud moments in An American Carol. Even some of the rehashed humor got a chuckle out of me. It’s just that my “seen that, laughed then” experience with Zucker humor meant I wasn’t laughing through everything, like I did when I originally saw the earlier Zucker films.

Overall, it’s an enjoyable film for a matinee, or a DVD rental. But it just didn’t make me laugh till I cried like the old classic Zucker masterpieces did.

There’s nothing to see after the credits finish.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com