VHS : Funny Bones [1995]

Rating: - A Deeply Disturbing, Hilarious Film
I have yet to actually meet someone else outside our family who has seen this masterpiece. It is a work of genius. It's hugely funny , worrying, sad, tragic and uplifting - and there aren't too many film you can say that about.

The breadth of strange talent on display is staggering. The one man marching band who uses no instruments and the biscuit tin tap dancer to name but two.

The leads are universally excellent. Oliver Platt went on to do wonderful work (see The Imposters)and Lee Evans has never been funnier. leslie Caron is gorgeous, Jerry Lewis is bravely unlikeable and even the dog "Toast" has character. The film for me is stolen by the two older performers, Freddie Davies and George Carl who have gravity, dignity and comic timing which has to be seen to be believed.

Watch it and spread the word.

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Rating: - Is it drama or comedy? It's a hommage to Blackpool!
If you buy this DVD on what the cover looks like, you're in for a surprise. I watched this film for five times and the surprise hasn't worn off yet!
"Headliner"Jerry Lewis plays an important role, but he's in the movie for (at the most) ten minutes. Oliver Platt is the central character; a comedian in search of who he is, who he wants to be and finds out where he came from.
The other central role is for Lee Evans (and not mentioned on the cover..), a troubled physical comedian who's confronted by his past.
That's all I can say about the story; it veers from black drama to physical comedy. Highlights are all the vaudeville and music-hall acts that come along and there's dazzling music by Duke Ellington and Raymon Scott. It's both funny and tragic!

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Rating: - Excellent dark comedy
This is a great film - it's very dark and very funny. The star of the show is Lee Evans - which is why it's bizarre that he's not even pictured on the cover (I assume that was an "For American Audiences" decision.

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Rating: - I lost a rib
This is not a funny film. It is a masterpiece of black comedy, that challenges the accepted boundaries of the genre. Lee Evans, who is only given scant credit, is blinding. If you feel down and need a lift, this is like attaching your car battery to your nipples and hitting the 'Big Red' GO button.

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Rating: - genuinely funny film
Funny Bones is an oddity of a movie which manages to be excruciatingly funny in places, yet desperately touching in others and at times, astonishingly creepy. I don't like Jerry Lewis, but this movie gave me a respect for his ability I never had before, and gave a showcase to some brilliant but less well-known comedy talent - especially to some faces long absent from public attention. If you want to be surprised, amused and thoroughly entertained, try this one out.