One of the greatest, most insane screwball comedy ever to grace theaters.

Rating: 9/10 (18 April 2004)

Some Like It Hot is not an incredibly artistic, graceful film with deeply significant themes of love and sacrifice - it's a screwball comedy. Yet it is remembered as one of the greatest screwball comedies ever to hit theaters. It is completely over-the-top, filled with unlikely situations, bizarre coincidences and quirky characters.
Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis, playing Joe and Jerry, two down-and-out musicians looking for work in Chicago just before the stock market crash of 1929 that would shove America - and the world - into the Great Depression. The two witness a killing by Al Capone's goons - part of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre - and desperately try to escape to where they will never be found. Without giving away any details, they find themselves in the midst of a rather precarious situation (today, perhaps a comedy cliché - not so then), involving deception, unrequited love, and relationships with a startling number of combinations of genders.
There is a great dynamic between the characters of Lemmon and Curtis. They are in constant competition to win the heart of Sugar (Marilyn Monroe), a rebellious and decidedly naïve woman who has completely given up on men who are not rich enough to own a yacht. Lemmon and Curtis are constantly bickering and wanting revenge, yet they are forced to cooperate lest they give away their secret to the onlookers. Their story gets convoluted the point where it is difficult to remember which is which, with the story's extremely tight pace and the many twists along the way.
One cannot say enough about the about the brilliant comedic acting seen here. Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis are funny not merely because of their dialogue, but because of their wild energy. They slip in and out of roles before they even realize what they're doing, going from complacent to angry to scared witless without missing a beat. Joe E. Brown is sure to get under your skin as Osgood Fielding III. And Marilyn Monroe - well, she mostly shows a lot of cleavage.
Ultimately "Some Like it Hot" is a tightly compressed batch of hilarity. There is a reason why it is listed as the American Film Institute's #1 comedy (although this reviewer doesn't entirely agree with that claim). Modern movie-goers shouldn't be turned off by its black-and-white nature; it puts modern buddy comedies to shame.