A New Leaf

A few years back I went with two friends to see The Heartbreak Kid at the (completely packed) Music Box in Chicago. Caring about Chicago and Chicago history, as I do, I knew who Elaine May was. The Compass Players... Nichols and May... The Birdcage... Mikey and Nicky (which I should rewatch because all my friends love it and I didn't really like it the first time... 😬) etc. I knew of her but really didn't have an understanding the level at which she operated.... which is basically just higher than everyone else, effortlessly. Chicago comedy owes much of its success to her and Nichols.

In her first outing as a director, she cast Matthau as the bumbling rich person who never had to work. This is punctuated by a great scene of confusion with a banker, displaying just how little he understands money. There are some great jokes in the first third of the movie between Matthau and his butler, including a running gag about "Carbon on the valves..." Movies should really employ running gags more.

But once Elaine May shows up, the film is elevated beyond the typical bumbling male-centric comedy (No shade... sometimes those are great). May is adorably and clumsily introduced with a spill and a Matthau speech about the hosts rug perversions. Throughout May is hilarious with her subdued demeanor ("Heavens..") and physical comedy. Alone in my living room I laughed out loud when a waiter pulled a table back and she's covered in crumbs. Precursor to Charles Grodin disgusted by Jeannie Berlin eating in Heartbreak Kid. This gag is hilariously called back later in the movie when Walter Matthau declares "She has to be vacuumed every time we eat!". 

Matthau's scheme in the second half is pretty dark but the writing and repartee soften all of this... It is pretty easy to see how the film will resolve but knowing where it is headed takes nothing away from the journey of getting there.