A complete dud

Rating: 1/10 (13 June 2007)

I saw the 2005 remake of this last year and thoroughly enjoyed it; but so many reviewers said it was not a patch on the original I have been trying to see that as well to compare the two. At last I have managed it and have to say that I sat leaden-faced through the entire movie. I could not believe that any so-called comedy could be that unfunny. Zero Mostel shouted hysterically with frenetic gestures, obviously thinking that he was being extremely funny when he was nothing of the sort. As for the famed Gene Wilder all I can say is that he had nothing of the subtlety that Matthew Broderick brought to the role, though at least he was not as appallingly irritating as Mostel. Scenes referred to by previous reviewers as classics of comedy were to me just noisy and childish. It was interesting that the original was much shorter than the remake, but it seemed about twice as long. I only just managed to sit through it all. A complete dud.