TWO MUCH
Kelvin Ha
Directed by : Fernando Trueba
Written by :
Cast : Antonio Banderas, Melanie Griffith, Daryl Hannah, Eli Wallach, Joan Cusack, Danny Aiello.
Produced by :
Rating : *** out of *****
Theatres : SHAWProduced at a cost of $14 million, TWO MUCH will go down in Spanish film history as the most expensive domestic film ever made. But for most of the general public, it will always be remembered as the film which made Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas break up their families and start a scandalous affair which culminated in their recent marriage.
Returning to his local industry, which he'd left for Hollywood, Banderas plays Art Dodge, a down-on-his-luck artist/conman who turns up at funerals with paintings claiming that the deceased had bought them. A dead ringer reference to Dicken's Artful Dodger of "Oliver Twist" fame, Art meets wacky millionairess Betty Kerner (Griffith) on one of his scams. She is busy evading the advances of her ex-husband and immediately takes up with Art, spending a wild night of uninhibited sexual indulgence together with him. The morning after, Art is intent on going home and resuming his life, but Betty has other plans. She sends out their wedding invitations.
In the middle of trying to worm his way out of his impending marriage, and avoiding Betty's ex-husband (Danny Aiello), Art meets and falls in love with Betty's sister, Liz (Hannah). This is where the screwball Classical Hollywood Cinema sex comedy unfolds. Attempting to woo Liz, Art invents an alter-ego, his twin brother Bart, and the comedy just starts rolling from here on, as he tries to see two sisters at the same time.
Banderas displays competence in this role, which sees him acting in a different kind of mode. No more the tough action hero as in ASSASSINS or DESPERADO, Banderas actually gets beaten up and plays a sensitive kind of man in this comedy, which is another genre which we seem him acting in for the first time since coming to Hollywood. Melanie Griffith is unspectacular as Betty Kerner, and the closeups actually do her more damage than good. Despite this, she still displays a great pair of legs which seem to go on forever.
As for the sexual chemistry between Banderas and Griffith, we hardly get a glimpse of it in this movie. Daryl Hannah, playing Betty's sister Liz, has obviously seen better days and looks a whole generation away from her first debut in SPLASH. Perhaps the most underrated performer in this film is Joan Cusack, who plays Art's secretary Gloria. Her facial expressions and sarcastic comments propel the energy of the plot, and it is a joy to watch her deliver her oneliners deftly and confidently.
If there is a reason to watch TWO MUCH, it has to be for the scandal that Banderas and Griffith created, and also for Cusack's marvellous performance. At the most, it is an entertaining two hours at the cinema.
The Flying Inkpot Rating System:
* Wait for the video.
** A little creaky, but still better than staying at home with Gotcha!
*** Pretty good, bring a friend.
**** Amazing, potent stuff.
***** Perfection. See it twice.
Kelvin Ha is a full time lecturer at VoiceBox.
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