The Impostors

1998 "Why be yourself when you can be somebody else?"
6.5| 1h41m| R| en| More Info
Released: 02 October 1998 Released
Producted By: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Country:
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

Wrongly accused of physically abusing a fellow actor, starving thespians Arthur and Maurice find themselves pursued by the law aboard a cruise ship.

Genre

Comedy

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The Impostors (1998) is currently not available on any services.

Director

Stanley Tucci

Production Companies

Fox Searchlight Pictures

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The Impostors Audience Reviews

Spoonatects Am i the only one who thinks........Average?
Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.
Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.
Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.
moonspinner55 Stanley Tucci wrote, co-produced, directed and stars in this happy, but only moderately successful comedy about two out-of-work actors--so unemployed they are reduced to staging wild scenes in restaurants just for the food--who get on the wrong side of a drunken stage-star and end up as stowaways on a cruise ship. Very broad, occasionally funny, but the humor and the R-rated language don't really match up with the 1940s scenario (the vulgarity feels forced and heavy-handed). Tucci is a wonderful ham actor, and he's well-matched with Oliver Platt, but his direction is shaky and some of his jokes are mean-spirited. For those who stick with it, the finale is admittedly terrific. ** from ****
dragonfish I found this film in the throw away pile at a local video store and took it home purely because it was a comedy and I'd had an awful day. It's times like this that you come across total gems. I initially thought a film written by, staring etc... the same actor might be rather on the self indulgent side, but when it is Stanley Tucci he could be forgiven. The first few minutes of the film are in total silence and actually rely on the talents and comic timing of the lead actors who carry it off with breathtaking gusto. It is a comedy of manners and situations, which grabs you attention straight away and holds it right until the end when you sigh with relief that good comedy is still being made. Oliver Platt and Tucci make an hilarious couple and with some notable cameos thrown in from the likes of Billy Connelley as a tennis player with a penchant for large Greek looking men and Steve Buschemi as a depressive singer called Happy, there were moments when I really thought I had done myself some serious damage from laughing. I love this film and have shown it to many friends who express surprise it did not make a bigger splash than it did. Do yourself a favour and see this movie, the cast obviously enjoyed making it which is abundantly clear and it shows what you can do with a small budget and large talent.
Red42386 The first time I saw this movie I fell in love with it. Tucci's use of classic comedy techniques (title screens and slapstick) along with impressive set and costume design give this oddball movie a unique flavor that will make you want to watch this cute flick again and again. Platt and Tucci head up this amazing cast but the movie wouldn't be half as good as it is without a brilliant supporting cast, filled with albeit one-dimensional characters which are a lot of fun despite their lack of depth. If you like Charlie Chaplin, the Marx Brothers, or Laurel and Hardy, you'll appreciate this modern day homage to old-school comedy. It's hard to find in video stores; I saw it once on the IFC and then had to find it on NetFlix, but if you have a chance to see it, you won't regret it.
Pepper Anne The Impostors was great, though probably not side-splittingly funny if your not willing to lose yourself in the simple comedic antics that occur throughout the film. Two actors, Aurthur (Stanley Tucci) and his tall, chubby companion Maurice (Oliver Platt), are hard up for work, but they always seem to have an opportunity to use their acting talents, even if not working onstage. During a plan to weasle some food from an unsuspecting baker, the actors outwit themselves, fumbling their plan. Instead of the starving pair getting free food, they get tickets to a Shakespeare show. After watching the dreadful Bernardo (William Hill) butcher 'Hamlet', they insult the actor and get into a scuffle, forcing Maurice and Aurthur to hideout. Consequently, their choice of hiding places was not great, since they become stowaways on a ship. The same ship that the trashtalking-Bernado was travelling on. Things become a mess as Maurice and Aurthur scurry around the ship, pretending to be everything from bellhops to a British gentleman and his lady, in an effort to avoid Bernardo and several other extremely weirdo passengers, including Happy Franks (Steve Buscemi) as the horribly depressed singer who fumbles every suicide attempt; a couple disguised as French tourists (Alison Janney and Richard Jenkins); a furiously gay Scotsman (Billy Connoly); a Russian Communist disguised as an easy-going shipmate (Tony Shaloub); an annoyingly hypocritical German (Campbell Scott); and many others to make it a furiously hilarious odd assortment of characters. These secondary characters are really the ones who make the film so funny whereas Aurthur and Maurice are more like mild mannered guys who just found themselves in a bad situation, but seem to take it rather well. And again, as the introduction indicates, styled along the lines of silent-film comedy, that is the kind of comedy this film goes for--the slapstick/misconception comedy of Vaudville, matched with overdramatic movements and chases and whatnot of early silent film comedies and dramas. It is not blatant stupid-comedy Carl Reiner films (such as the Cheap Detective), because it doesn't drive the whole movie (there is more attention paid to the story), nor is it overdone. Best of all, the humor is delivered at great moments. For example, the Captain, looking for his long lost lover, seeks out a woman at the bar who veils her face as much as she can from him. He seems to anxious to know if this is the same woman he has searched for for so many years. He approaches her, "Are you you?" It certainly isn't the kind of thing you expect a guy to ask if he think he's just found the woman he's been searching for that long. It's really good stuff if this is the kind of comedy you enjoy.