one of the greatest black comedies of all-time

Rating: 10/10 (6 August 2002)

Dr. Strangelove is one of the greatest black(and white) comedies of all time. It explores with humor and spine-chilling grace: will mankind survive its own madness? or are our collective flaws so great that we will wink out in an evolutionary instant? But these questions are explored in a farcical, dark work that, I suspect, will live for quite a long time in film history. Terry Southern's dark vision mixed with Shakesperean bawdiness of Peter Sellers et al makes for fascinating and delicious humor. Although this was produced at the height of the cold war, what makes this work of art a timeless classic is that it transcends its immediate theme and prompts in us in our time to view our collective madness. Do we depend too much on our technology and think-tank rationalizations to propell us in directions we would never go as a rational individuals. Do we rationalize to life shibboleths that will propel us into immolation? What a movie that asks these questions of us, ourselves, and at the same time entertains us, makes us gut-laugh and cry at the on-screen farce. Wow. Shakespeare and B-52's. Crazed generals with phallic cigars stickying jauntily out of mouth. Pentegon brass calling on secure phones to their paramours. And Peter Sellars. This is a tour d'farce for him. His multiple portrayals of the president, a British miilitary attache and Dr. Strangelove are comic masterpieces. This is a movie for the ages. If you haven't seen it, bring your brain and your tears, for you'll laugh and cry as your intellect is entertained, and that's really sho-biz, folks.