Jon Monsarrat review: still funny, but not the top

Rating: 7/10 (18 May 2004)

I was pleasantly surprised by Some Like It Hot. Men in drag is an overdone topic (maybe it wasn't back then?), black and white films are passe, and the passing of 45 years can kill a lot of old films... for example, North By Northwest. No offense, but action and special effects have come a long way since Hitchcock. But Some Like It Hot is still funny, although not the kind of funny that I'd give to the top 250 films of all time. It outdoes TV's "Bosom Buddies" but it's not as funny as classics "The Ref", "My Cousin Vinny", "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", or "Freaky Friday".
Tony Curtis is great, Jack Lemmon is OK, and I was disappointed by Marilyn Monroe. Apparently there are rumors that she stumbled through her role and I believe it 100%. This is the first film with her I've seen and, maybe it's the outdated hair style or the cancerous mole, I wasn't particularly attracted to her.
Who should see this film:
-- Comedy lovers with an interest in the classics, this one's safe.
-- Film artistes, but you may be disappointed.
I prefer to give a rating for how a film plays today, not when it was first released. I'm sure it was sizzling originally, but today... I'll give Some Like It Hot at 7 out of 10. Still stands the test of time.