Charming but way overated.

Rating: 7/10 (9 June 2004)

A recent poll in saw this come out as the best comedy of all time.
Beating the likes of Odd Couple and Airplane!, Some Like It Hot is revered by so many, and while I can see the charm of it and concede that the performances are really excellent, the film *really* isn't that funny.
It stars Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon as 2 witnesses to a mob shooting. They're a saxophonist and a bass player respectively who're part of a band, but the mob are after them after escaping from the hit, and the only way they can hide is to dress up as women and join a female band. Enter the amazing Marilyn Munroe as a band member (Sugar Cane) they befriend - it just so happens they're both crazy about her yet cannot give up the facade of their disguises.
This provides much fuel for the contrivance of some very funny moments as Curtis' 'Josephine' sets about wooing her (By putting on an impression of a millionaire) while Lemmon's 'Daphne' gets the short end of the deal every time.
To say the least, the performances are truly top drawer, *particularly* Munroe's Cane, who even in the 21st century utterly exudes sex appeal. This was surely her finest role.
The boys do a great turn too and the chemistry is spot on from one adventure to the next.
The problem is the situations are in places funny, but it's never *truly* the funniest thing you'll ever see. The script in the Odd Couple (For me the greatest comedy ever) is head and shoulders above this, and that's what sets it apart. Sure, there are some very witty and intelligent lines here too, but somehow they're greater in number in the Odd Couple. I single the Odd Couple out as it was also focused on a cracking comedic partnership and also starred Lemmon. It also benefitted from greater comic timing.
This is certainly a classy comedy which is well acted and thoroughly enjoyable, but it suffers from a little bit of overhyping.