Cheerfully one records this
cheerful bit of frippery eminently dignified by no other than Sandy
Baron’s amazing resemblance to Charles Bukowski in this part (comparable
to Allen Garfield’s similar turn as Ginsberg in Cyborg 2), and for
another reason.
It may be much or little, but it returned 12.5% on a two million
dollar investment. Drama has died on our stages for the cost (if not for any
other reason), and even a bit of frippery in Hollywood requires a two million
dollar outlay.
Hollywood, mark you, is a slum nowadays. Even bohemian
garrets go for a premium there! “I wants me
gold!” says the scheming dwarf on the eve of his millennial wedding, in a
Hollywood “that now goes mainly backward.”
Idle
Hands
The masterpiece of derision aimed at slackers found little favor
with film critics, though it does offer the redemption of a bongful
of marijuana and then heaven.
The original ending was a fascinating riff on Cat People,
Altered States and Repulsion, which helped out the form but was
not considered droll by the studio, the producers and the director himself, he
tells us.
Flender is only ten or a hundred times the director Sonnenfeld
or Columbus is, but that’s enough.