Kubrick lets his hair down

Rating: Null/10 (10 September 2001)

Anyone who thought that Stanley Kubrick was a cold and humorless director needs to watch this movie again. All that's missing from the wild plot is a pie fight (which apparently was shot for the end of the film but cut from the final product---perhaps it exists somewhere). Some of the situational humor seems dated (the Cold War paranoia) however the movie remains a comedy classic because of its characters. Sterling Hayden's General Ripper is a screwball version of the Gunnery Sergeant in Full Metal Jacket. Slim Pickens' "riding the bomb" is a sequence for the movie time capsule. And of course Peter Sellers--all three of his characters are comic masterpieces, demonstrating his ability for playing deadpan comedy and broad slapstick. Easily one of the funniest movies of all time.