Beanbioca As Good As It Gets

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Matho The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

gkeith_1 Spoilers. Observations. Opinions. Jack's being in it gives it a 4 for me. Otherwise, it looked pretty lackluster. I couldn't watch all of this. The Nazi element started kicking in, and I lost it. These people unsmiling, speaking German in the room with Walter during the time period of World War Two, were really scary and offputting. I realize that they were supposed to be actors for Walter's use, but at that point I stopped watching. Bosley Crowther was right, in his 1940s critique of this film, in that there is not much to redeem it. I did like Jane Wyman's hair, hat and other costuming in the earlier scenes. Of course, I always like Jack. If not for Jack, I would have given this film a 2 or 3 — I think my lowest of any of the around 374-ish number of films I have reviewed on this site since 2002. I did like seeing Irene Manning, Fay Templeton from Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942, two years earlier). I always enjoy seeing Alan Hale, Sr. I hate the black and white!Jack, I still love you. I am a degreed historian from the university, actress, dancer, singer, makeup artist, film critic and movie reviewer.

dougdoepke Uneven comedy that benefits from Jack Carson's mugging skills but that's about all. The plot's darn near incomprehensible in its three main threads. The comedic thread where Carson and Wyman take on servant's duties they're totally unprepared for is promising. The second thread about his detective work is okay. But the third, about supposedly pseudo-Nazis is a gesture to the time and very poorly managed. Overall, the comedy's left mainly to Carson and not the movie itself. Then too, director Godfrey doesn't seem very engaged, as though the script and Carson should be enough. Check out director Alan Dwan's thematically similar Getting Gertie's Garter (1945) for an edifying contrast. Nonetheless, there are some amusing bits— the bed bouncing test that's also innuendo, Carson and Wyman preparing the world's worst fancy meal, and Carson showering in the girl's quarters where towels magically appear. Too bad Carson's largely forgotten. He was a fine all around actor, as adept at drama as he was at comedy. The movie, however, is far from his best.

blanche-2 Jack Carson and Jane Wyman star in "Make Your Own Bed," from 1944, also starring Alan Hale and Ricardo Cortez.Carson plays Jerry, a private detective, who is in jail for arresting the DA. In jail, he meets Walter (Hale) there on a minor matter. Walter is desperate for a cook and butler. In order to get Jerry to work for him, he says that his life is in danger, a neighbor is after his wife, and Nazi spies abound. He also wants a cook, so Jerry talks his fiancée Susan (Wyman) to go along with him.Walter does all he can to keep Jerry "on the case." He sends threatening letters to himself and hires radio actors to play spies.Walter can't buttle, and Susan can't cook but they keep trying; despite there being no case originally, it turns out there is one after all.Cute but dated, with Jerry presenting Susan as his wife and then being stuck in a room with her that has a double bed. It's a very slight movie, with decent acting. Carson was always pleasant and Wyman very talented and pretty, Hale appropriately uppity - all are good, there's just not much to the movie.

David (Handlinghandel) This movie has at least four plots going on at once. They really don't work well together and none on its own is plausible.The direction is at a frantic pace. It's forced and charmless and it looks as if everyone involved knew this. The pace is like a Looney Toons cartoon but neither that nor sound effects nor zany music helps.I found joking about Nazis in so offhand a manner in 1944 shocking. One of the plots involves radio actors who pretend to be real Nazis and then turn out in fact to be real Nazis. The word is pronounced by almost all the actors so that the first syllable sounds like that of the word nasty.Maybe the movie was made before its year of release but if so, it ought to have been scrapped altogether. There was nothing remotely funny about Nazism in 1944 (nor was there or will there ever be.)about Nazism in 1944 (nor was there or will there ever be.)