THE HONEYMOONERS
US, 2005, 90 minutes, Colour.
Cedric the Entertainer, Mike Epps, Gabrielle Union, Regina Hall, Eric Stoltz, Jon Polito, John Leguizamo.
Directed by John Schultz.
Here is a raucous comedy that most people will not mind missing.
It is an adaptation of the classic TV series that starred Jackie Gleason and Art Carney which, with its black and white photography, fixed sets and some laboured comedy, fades now in its classic status somewhat. This is not a version to rehabilitate its reputation.
It has to be said immediately, that the setting is African American and is designed almost exclusively for this audience who will be familiar with the cast, the kind of humour and jokes and the desperate situations that Ralph Kramden gets himself into. Cedric the Entertainer does the Jackie Gleason thing, getting himself into deeper and deeper hot water with mad financial schemes (like buying a subway train without thinking about how to get it out of the underground) and with his wife who wants to buy a house. Michael Epps is the Art Carney equivalent.
While the film is good humoured and pleads for sympathy for this latter day Ralph Kramden, the comedy does not travel well outside the target audience.
1.The popularity of the original television series? Jackie Gleason and Art Carney? The characters, the plot, the working class? Schemes and plans? Family life?
2.The adaptation to the 21st century, the African American setting? Preserving the qualities of the original? Particular qualities of this interpretation?
3.New York City, apartments, rundown? Bus driving and bus terminuses? The duplex and estate agents? The train for sale? The greyhound? The get-rich-quick schemes and their failures?
4.Cedric the Entertainer as Ralph Kramden? Personality, screen presence? Working class? His friendship with Ed? His love for Alice? His work, the bus, the passengers, the fellow drivers? At home, the neighbours? The family? His wanting to get rich quick? His encounter with William Davis? His encounter with Dodge? The buying of the greyhound, collaborating with Ed, the training, the races, the greyhound going off track? The decision to buy the train, the auction, the scheme, the excitement? The inability to move the train out of the subway? Alice and her reaction, wanting to buy the house? Their savings, the loan from her mother, the down-payment, Ralph and his losing the money? Alice and her leaving? The duplex, the unscrupulous agent? Ralph selling the train, the Japanese businessman? Buying the duplex? Alice forgiving him? Moving into the new house?
5.Alice, long-suffering, love for Ralph, the family, the hopes for the house, her parents, the loan from her mother, her disappointment, the money gone, her moving out, signing the deed, the rescue by Ralph?
6.Ed and Trixie, the parallel with Ralph and Alice? Downstairs? Their lives? Ed and his collaboration with Ralph, on all the schemes?
7.The white men, untrustworthy, their schemes, confidence tricks? Dodge and the greyhound, the training, the race, the failure?
8.The issue of the train, the auction, buying it, Ralph and his desperation? The Japanese businessman?
9.The film designed for an African American audience? The humour, the styles, the jokes, the spoofs, the parody? How well does it travel beyond the target audience?
