Blame It on the Bellboy (1992)
Mike Lawton, Maurice Horton, and Melvin Orton are three men who come to Venice. One of them is a hit man sent to take out a mobster. Another is a lech looking for a little action with a woman he never met, whom he was set up with. And one of them was sent by his employer to inspect a property his boss wants to buy. All three men stay at the same hotel. But when the bellboy gets their names mixed up and gives info meant for someone else. So one of them meets a Realtor who will whatever she has to, to close the sale. And another follows a woman looking for romance. And another goes to the home of the mobster who thinks he's sent there to kill him.
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In Venice, gangster Scarpa is expecting an assassination attempt but he doesn't know that it's hit-man Mike Lawton (Bryan Brown). Melvyn Orton (Dudley Moore) is in town to check out properties for his boss. Real estate agent Caroline Wright (Patsy Kensit) is looking unload a dud quickly for triple the commission. Maurice Horton (Richard Griffiths) is looking to find an arranged date with Patricia Fulford. Major screw-ups by the bumbling bellboy (Bronson Pinchot) send the wrong messages to the various hotel clients. Horton is sent to Caroline Wright expecting a date. Orton is sent to Scarpa expecting to buy the property. Lawton is sent to Fulford expecting to kill her.Writer/director Mark Herman misses the mark on this one. Bronson Pinchot's broad comedic performance is very distracting. The three misunderstandings come with a few chuckles. Patsy Kensit and Richard Griffiths are probably the closest to being funny. They are a little bit of sitcom and is almost comical. The other two stories are nowhere near funny. They turn into a lot of running around. After Patsy and Richard have done the deed, even that falls flat. It's a lot of misunderstanding without the comedy.
Mike Lawton, Maurice Horton, and Melvin Orton are three men who come to Venice. One of them is a hit man sent to take out a mobster. Another is a dirty old Mayor, looking for a little action with a woman he never met, whom he was set up with. And one of them was sent by his employer to inspect a property his boss wants to buy. All three men are at the same hotel. But when the bellboy gets their names mixed up and gives info meant for someone else. So one of them meets a Realtor who will do whatever she has to, to close the sale. And another follows a woman looking for romance....The early nineties and late eighties were a strange time for British cinema, before the advent of Trainspotting, all the UK were famous for was really Carry On, Merchant and Ivory, and awful attempts at TV stars becoming movie stars.This movie tries to go for the old farcical movies of the seventies, and it succeeds to an extent, albeit with a bigger budget, and a wonderful cast.The problem is that the film is too short, and needs to elaborate a little more on some of the sub plots. Moore is brilliant, but his little story gets sidelined in favour of the other two.The mayor and Patsy Kensit sequence is genuinely funny, but the hit man segment isn't really up to scratch, and the pigeon killings is just a rip off of the dog joke in A Fish Called Wanda.Its watchable, but don't expect something clever, its as if someone has made an anthology movie, blended the three stories and then had the titular character tie up the loose ends.
Seriously, who greenlighted this? Or is it lit...? Anyway, this being the first thing by Herman I've watched, and me basically not being familiar with anyone in this except for Brown(and hearing that Moore is considered a talent, R.I.P.), I don't know whose fault it is that this is pure crap. But it is. And I'll tell you why: For all of my looking, I could not find a single, genuine joke in this. No, I'm not saying that they were all poor; I'm saying, such does not exist in this. This did not even get a smile out of me, and I can be an easy audience. The entire thing is based upon the mix-up of three names, and this confusion is maintained purely because these people are morons that don't behave in any kind of realistic way(yes, I know it's a farce; I say that they don't get away with it if they're not making us laugh), leading to predictable gags and ridiculous misunderstandings. Acting is decent. At least it moves fast; too much so, in fact. Zero character development(what seems like it might be is thrown out for cheap attempts at comedy), and essentially, the entire flick is absolutely nothing other than a series of connected occurrences, each straining credulity more than those that came before it. No point, no themes, nothing. Don't you need, you know, content? It is interesting... no... no, that's, that's not the word... terrifying, that's it... that there are actually people who find stupid stereotypes, painfully done, as well as torture, *funny*. There is plenty of disturbing content and mild/hinted violence, a little moderate language and brief sexuality(not graphic) in this. I recommend this to... those who actually think the above sounds appealing. 1/10
Three men; Orton, Horton and Lawton find themselves in unorthodox situations due to the misunderstanding of a bellboy.This farcical comedy is right on the mark. Clever misunderstandings arise and they're all well played out, with a willing cast who aim to please. Dudley Moore is especially appealing here in one of his last screen roles. Bronson Pinchot is also a riot as the world's worst bellboy.The script is tight, I felt it could have been even longer, some plot holes but who cares? It's very funny all the way. Using beautiful scenery from lovely Venice, the film gets even more of an appeal. I can't see how one can dislike a film like this.