Not a
fan of this one. Admittedly, it does
have its moments, but it has a substandard-sitcom premise, a fair amount of
lazy humor, and kind of an ugly atmosphere.
Definitely a fine example of why Buster disliked the Columbia shorts.
Buster
and his wife have been living hand to mouth due to the steep alimony he has to
pay to his ex. Buster gets the
“brilliant” idea to get his ex-wife to simply move in with them in lieu of the
monthly gouging, and you can just imagine how well that goes over. The brassy ex soon arrives with her loutish
boyfriend, and together, they take over the place like they own it. Desperate, Buster’s wife latches onto a plan
to convince the ex to marry her boyfriend, in hopes of being rid of the pair
from their home (and Buster’s wallet) for good.
I
suppose, at the very least, I can say the short is effective, because the
ex-wife and her boyfriend are everything they set out to be: obnoxiously off-putting. Both of them are loud, coarse, selfish, and
mean-spirited, and I feel every bit of Buster and his wife’s irritation at
their oppressively-abrasive presence.
But while it may be effectively depicted, it’s by no means enjoyable to
watch.
It’s
not that terrible people can’t be entertaining.
They can – under the right circumstances, they can even be bang-up
protagonists. And as villains, it can be
satisfying to see awful people get their comeuppance at the hands of the
put-upon heroes. But these two aren’t
entertaining. They’re not charismatic,
they’re not witty, they’re just there,
brash and demanding.
What’s
worse, they spend all their time putting down Buster just for the hell of it. Buster’s got a major chump thing going on here, the sadsack who’s continually
humiliated by these two losers. The
boyfriend is especially aggravating; he has this dumb, raucous laugh that he
does all the time, even when Buster hasn’t done anything “lame” or
whatever. It’s like he finds Buster
ridiculous merely for existing, and Buster doesn’t stand up for himself nearly
enough to counteract this guy’s stupidity.
But as
I said, there are a few bright spots, all in the physical comedy. I get a laugh out of Buster trying to avoid
being hit in the face by a door (the ex-wife and boyfriend are in the process
of moving in, so there’s a stream of people coming in and out – always at the
wrong time, of course.) I enjoy Buster’s
wife trying to assist him in carrying his ex’s enormous trunk on his back like
a bell hop. I’m amused that Buster’s
poor boxing stance when he’s finally had enough of the boyfriend causes him to
be repeatedly punched in the face by his own fist. And Buster has a really funny, way-too-short
sequence trying to iron a pair of unruly pants.
Warnings
Slapstick
violence and some smoking.
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