He looked disoriented, and I suspect now that this was their first outing since the onslaught of his ailment. As the movie progressed, he allowed himself small chuckles that gradually grew into hearty guffaws. It made the man laugh, and he was having a great time. His wife hardly glanced at the movie. Instead she watched her husband, and her face glowed with tenderness, relief and gratitude that he was still capable of enjoying himself.
Comedy truly is a gift from the muses.
From a dryly critical perspective, few genres employ all aspects of filmmaking as forcefully as comedy. The great silent comedians, including such legends as Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton, spoke volumes with facial expressions and body English, enhanced by camera angles. But film is both a verbal and visual medium, and the best modern comedies bring expert dialogue into the mix. The most gifted comic actors speak their lines with deceptive casualness, generously allowing us non-wits in the audience to think that we, too, might be just as clever under the same circumstances. Ensemble harmony Comedy requires the harmony of ensemble acting.