My Favorite Year (1982)

'My Favorite Year' is quite simply, a hilarious film from the early 1980's! Over-The-Top, Crazy & All Heart, this is an underrated comedic gem! And The Late/Great Peter O'Toole is astonishing in the funniest role of his legendary career.'My Favorite Year' Synopsis: When a dissolute matinée idol (Peter O'Toole) is slated to appear on a live TV variety show, chaos ensures. 'My Favorite Year' works because its genuinely funny & the sequences that follow one after the other, result in hilarity. And while it aims for laughs predominantly, the film also has heart in the form of a sub-plot involving O'Toole's daughter, who's away from him. So its not just the laughs that work, but also some genuine emotion.Dennis Palumbo & Norman Steinberg's Screenplay is really funny & arresting. The Writing is consistently brisk & builds the story scene-by-scene. Richard Benjamin's Direction is superb. Cinematography is nicely done. Editing is perfect. Art & Costume Design are fabulous.Performance-Wise: Peter O'Toole is at his best, yet again! In a parody of himself here, The Thespian is a riot all through. I was pleasantly surprised by how funny he is & how he effortlessly carries the film. A Stellar Act! Mark Linn-Baker is wonderfully goofy. Jessica Harper is first-rate. The Late/Great Joseph Bologna also lends excellent support. Bill Macy & Lainie Kazan are superb. Rest lend great support.On the whole, 'My Favorite Year' is a fun watch! Two Thumbs Up!

Reviewer Bill Slocum ("Plastered Makes Perfect", Bill Slocum from Greenwich, CT United States, 15 May 2003) has a nice summary with insight in Sid Caesar's troubles later in his career. Also, theowinthrop ("Sid Caesar, Errol Flynn, Mel Brooks, and Jimmy Hoffa meet 'incognito'", theowinthrop from United States, 29 July 2006) has more background information that is interesting to fans of this great movie."My Favorite Year" is at times uproariously funny, poignant and romantic, taking the viewer to great heights within the comedy/romance genre. With adroit skill, Peter O'Toole plays dissolute film legend Alan Swann, a cross between the washed-up, 1950s version of Errol Flynn and O'Toole himself. Hopeless tipper Flynn's booking on comedian Sid Caesar's live TV program is a general inspiration for the almost entirely fictional narrative.This is also a love story, as Mel Brooks-stand-in Benjy Stone (Mark Linn-Baker) succeeds romantically with office co-worker KC Downing (Jessica Harper), thanks largely to the help Swann gives to his young chaperon. The stream of sage wisdom that O'Toole offers Stone about women and getting the most out of life is a very rich cinematic experience. So is the depiction of an actor's torment; as he must perform even when his mental reserves to do so are exhausted.O'Toole did all of his own stunts, which generally are quite dangerous. The finish is a scream; I can't recall anything quite so funny in a long time. If you ever get the opportunity to watch this screened in public, go for it! Mortals!!

Sometimes it's quite surprising to find out about a movie that no one has ever told you off before but turns out to be a real hidden treasure. "My Favorite Year" is a more than great comedy, that is fun, as well as funny to watch.Key to what makes this a great movie to watch, is that it's being a fun one throughout. It's a fast going, snappy comedy, that doesn't necessarily force or exaggerate its comedy, to any extreme forms. It's playing things more subtly and more often relies on its dialog and actors, rather than on any comical situations. It makes the movie very pleasant and likable, also because it manages to maintain its good quick pace throughout its entire running time.The story really doesn't matter all that much for this movie, other than taking the characters from the one place and situation to the other. I'm not saying that it isn't any good but to me it just wasn't important for what this movie was all about and trying to do. Even the weaker moments in this movie and its story still work out well, thanks to its characters and the actors portraying them.Peter O'Toole plays Errol Flynn, even though his character is named differently in the movie. But he is Flynn and even plays some of the sequences out of some classic Errol Flynn movies. This all was great fun to watch and his presence truly adds a lot to this movie as well. He's perfectly classy and often despicable at the same time. But Mark Linn-Baker was also truly great! Whatever went wrong with his career? He was not only a great comedy actor but simply just a great actor in general as well. The movie has a more old fashioned type of comedy vibe to it, like a '40's production, which is also the time period this movie is being set in (well, the '50's but still), so it's no big surprise or a coincidence all. If you are a fan of these type of snappy and screwball like comedies, from the '40's mostly, changes are you will also absolutely love this movie as well!Anyway, this movie is an extremely fun and recommendable one, for everybody!8/10 http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

So says Alan Swann and he is so right. Peter O'Toole shows that there is a great actor inside of a great comedic performance. His remarkable portrayal of Swann stands out among all his other performances because Swann, in so many ways, is a thinly veiled O'Toole. His timing, physical grace and delivery rival the all time greats including Chaplin, Laurel, and Gleason. The pacing, casting and plot are expertly woven by director Richard Benjamin to create an inside look at early T. V. production and a crazy Jewish family. The scene of Swan attending dinner in Brooklyn with staff writer Benjy Stone's family is one of the funniest in screen history due in equal parts to the fantastic performances of O'Toole, Lou Jacobi (as a scene-stealing "Uncle Mortie") and Lainie Kazan as the mother of all Jewish mothers. As Swann, O'Toole manages to be loathsome, endearing, infuriating, charming and vulnerable. Kudos to Bill Macy as Benjy's crass boss and Joseph Bologna as the hot-tempered but indomitable King Kaiser. My Favorite Year never disappoints in delivering laughs and perhaps a sentimental tear as well.