Review by
Jason Abbey
Directed by: Mike Nichols
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty, Stockard Channing, Ian
Wolfe, Rose Michtom, Brian Avery
Coming off the back of a string of commercial failures, the combined
talents of Warren Beatty and Jack Nicholson in a period
farce must have seemed like a crackerjack idea. Emulating the likes of
The Sting, but with an emphasis on sexual braggadocio and jet-black comedy,
The Fortune tanked on release and now seems like a footnote
in the illustrious careers of all concerned. So, is
The Fortune an unheralded classic worthy of reassessment? In
a word, no.
It's by no means a bad film, just a decidedly average one. The period
setting is bang on and everyone is working hard, but that’s part of the
problem. Screwball and farce need to appear effortless; Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant
may have been working their individual asses off to be that good, but it
never looked anything but elegant and graceful on screen, like a comedic
dance gliding from set-piece to set-piece. No amount of non-sequitur
Nicholson gurning on the wing of a plane is going to top that.
Running at a sparse 90 minutes, the film should gallop when it just seems
to dawdle from one set-piece to the next after a strong opening which sees
Oscar surplus to requirements after the wedding, only there to give
substance to the nuptial ruse. Just playing the role of the husband is not
enough; he wants to take a more active part than just being a cuckold in
the marital sham, a fit of pique that could throw a spanner in the works
and put the gaze of the law onto them. The trouble is we don’t know much
about the protagonists. Are Oscar and Nicky friends, partners or business
acquaintances? Or did he find him in the 1920s equivalent of
Craigslist?
Director Mike Nichols is in love with his actors as much as Beatty
and Nicholson are in love with each other. A film with this level of star
wattage can never be all bad, but this fits into the territory of films that
were a lot more fun to make than they are to watch. Everyone is playing in
period dress up but no one is taking it seriously. The Mann Act is a neat
hook but ends up just window dressing to Beatty and Nicholson's ersatz
Laurel and Hardy routine.
You want the California sunshine to be a hiding place for the venal and
festering souls of a couple of asinine killers.
The War of the Roses shows how humour of the darkest shade
can arise from marital strife and breakdown. This wants you to like its
would be murderers as much as Nichols likes his leads. In the end you get
a few good set-pieces looking for a narrative lead.
The Fortune looks good and passes
the time in an amiable manner, but with the cast and crew involved it has to
go down as a failure.
The Fortune is on Amazon Prime Video
UK/ROI now.