Plenty, I would say. But my brother would be inclined to disagree. While
he admits that he doesn't like the mouth on that man-eating plant, he
loves its physical appearance. Frank Oz of muppet fame has once again
created a winning creature in the eyes of my brother, who has always had
a certain fondness for carnivorous plants. I have no doubt that Nathan
will soon be slaving away to create his own replica of Audrey II. He's
hooked, and he has made it clear that I am obligated to be kind to Little Shop of Horrors
should I choose to review it. So, setting aside my inclination to
wrinkle my nose, I will comply with his demand. Maybe -- just maybe --
this movie is worth the four stars I will give it. But I must admit that
I lack the strength of conviction.
The story revolves around
Seymour, an accident-prone, gold-hearted nerd played endearingly by Rick
Moranis. I love his character here as much as I love his character in
every movie I've ever seen him in. He's just adorable. Here he is cast
as a poor man working on Skid Row in a florist's shop. When a plant he
is caring for begins to take on a very abnormal appearance, business
picks up for the store which has been recently devoid of customers.
Seymour is an instant celebrity, but only he knows the dark secret
behind the plant's success.
Audrey, played by Ellen Greene, is
the object of Seymour's affection. I find her to be easily the most
annoying human character in the film. She looks like a Barbie doll, very
unrealistically proportioned, and talks with a mousy New York accent.
She may be a very nice person, but she's such an airhead that she gives
me a headache whenever she speaks. Directly contrasting her is her
sadistic boyfriend Orin, magnificently played by Steve Martin (with
black hair!). A motorcycle-driving dentist with an Elvis complex, he
gets his jollies by inflicting pain on people. He is utterly despicable,
but at least it's fun to watch him. His one show-stopping number Be a Dentist easily beats out Audrey's crooning tunes.
The movie is a definite musical, with probably more words sung than
spoken. It has a definite Mo-town flavor to it; Audrey II, Seymour's
wonder-plant, is voiced by a member of the Four Tops. The lyrics are
pretty clever and the action surrounding the songs is generally pretty
entertaining, but most of the actors have mediocre singing voices. Since
the whole film has a pretty cheesy feel to it, their so-so singing fits
right in.
Audrey II is my other least favorite character. It
is rude and vulgar, just plain obnoxious, and of course there's the
small matter of its feeding on human blood. I guess that I found Orin
hilarious so I liked the character even though I hated him. I really
didn't find much humor in Audrey II at all.
There's some nice
cameos here that provide extra laughs. Jim Belushi makes a very brief
appearance as a man seeking to market the Audrey II. John Candy plays a
loony disc jockey, and Bill Murray portrays a masochistic businessman
who is kicked out of Orin's office because he is enjoying the torture
the dentist is inflicting upon him.
There are quite a few
laughs to be had from this film, but a lot of the humor is dark or
perverted or simply corny. The movie finds a happy ending finally, but
it's a Goosebumps happy ending. In that show, every episode
resolves itself happily until the minute and a half after the commercial
break and before the credits. Then they throw in a twist that messes
everything up. Henry's Awful Mistake, one of my favorite
children's books, wherein an unwanted houseguest who causes the
destruction of Henry the duck's house moves into his new house with him,
employs a similar tactic. The irony in the movie is a little too morbid
for my tastes.
Go ahead and rent this movie. If you've got
pre-teen boys in your house, they'll probably love it. Otherwise, milk
it for all the chuckles it can give you and then return it promptly to
the video store.
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