An Archetype... That's Pretty Great

Rating: 8/10 (18 March 2010)

"Some Like It Hot" is hard to explain. The film, if you've never seen it, is going to feel like something you've seen a hundred times before. And you probably have, but they did it first. To be successful, two guys dress up as women, and then one falls for a woman (Marilyn Monroe) -- so how does he tell her without her hating him for keeping the secret?
We have seen plenty of films where guys get close to women because of some trick -- usually innocently -- and then have to inevitably reveal the truth. And sometimes this involves cross-dressing. I think it's safe to say that "Some Like it Hot" was the first film to play this plot, especially with the cross-dressing.
This film is funny, to be sure, and has a very nice innocence to it in that it seems pretty obvious to the audience that the women are men. The broad shoulders, the weird bumps while wearing a swimsuit? How the girls don't catch on is beyond me. And then to not recognize the guys while in male clothing... wow.