Waste of time

Very Cool!!!

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

In a tribute to films of a bygone era, Director Blake Edwards pays homage to silent film farces of the 1920's - even dedicating this film to "Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy" - with the slapstick comedy THE GREAT RACE - and succeeds, mostly.Reteaming Tony Curtis (as the brave, virtuous and good "The Great Leslie") and Jack Lemmon (as the sinister, dastardly and evil "Professor Fate"), The Great Race is great fun watching these two cartoon characters spar and parry with each other throughout the course of this 2 hour and 40 minute farce.Lemmon, in particular, relishes in dual roles as the menacing Fate, always dressed in black, twirling his mustache and coming up with scheme after scheme to derail Leslie (think the Coyote in the RoadRunner cartoons). His overacting and hammyness in the character is perfect for the tone that this film has set. And his maniacal laugh is one to remember - unless you are remembering the childlike guffaws of the other character Lemmon portrays, the doppelganger of Fate, Crown Prince Frederick. Both these characters are fun to watch and Fate, especially, plays well against his bumbling assistant and foil, "Max", played in utter buffoonishness by the great Peter Falk.Joining Curtis for the "good guys" is Natalie Wood as Suffragette and Newspaper Reporter Maggie DuBois (obviously tailored after real life Suffragette and Newspaper Reporter Nellie Bly). It is said that Curtis and Wood did not get along on set (they had worked together in 2 other films and grew to dislike each other), but their on-screen chemistry cannot be ignored and they are fun together. As is the great Keenan Wynn as Leslie's mechanic and friend Hezekiah Sturdy.But it is not the characters that makes this film go it is the set pieces and frenetic pacing that Director Edwards put before us. From thrilling chase scenes to a Western barroom brawl, to a trip through a blizzard with a polar bear to the "largest pie fight ever put on screen", this film delivers the goods in a wholesome, 1960's way that makes me truly say..."They don't make 'em like this anymore".8 out 10 stars and you can take that to the Bank (ofMarquis)

Sometimes villains can be even more fascinating characters than the heroes. Which is kinda strange because they should be people we shouldn't even like since they do things that are amoral or break ethical boundaries. It could be because at some points we can easily emphasize with certain feelings they have or simply they have more persona than the hero or simply more of a life. This is another one of my favorite comedies and I think is also under the radar and a bit forgotten.In a way the film sort of parodies on the notion of the good guy and bad guy motif. The plot is ridiculous feels but that's part of what makes it funny because this film is sort of a live action cartoon. It was a long movie but just as fast as the cars go, the pacing goes by so fast and constantly moves I hardly noticed.The production value was good it was shot in a bunch of location which makes it all the better which means no cheating with any effects. I really like the race sequences and stunts which were all real cars and all real driving. There is a bit of action like a sword fight which is probably on of my favorite one on one battles because of the length of time and the different foils and techniques used.The locations they all go to all pretty much play like a live action Mad Magazine comic. Like in that magazine each of the snafus they get into are random and completely ridiculous, it's almost like for a moment these characters have just jumped into another movie. From a western, "Prisoner of Zelda" dilemma, an epic pie battle, it's just crazy you have to see to believe.I simply like the characters. Tony Curtis is great as Lesile whom is so perfect it's nauseating, he's pretty much a parody on our amount of expectations on what we want our protagonists to be which is to be all so perfect. Lesile is that in spades all so perfect, yet all so dull, simply because this protagonist has that fundamental problem of having a lifestyle but no real life.Natalie Wood is great and hot as Maggie Dubois whom is almost a Lois Lane like reporter that is just so determined by all means to get her point across. And I just love how high she is on her feminist beliefs, which makes her all the more funny because of the double standard to some of them which she is consciously not entirely aware of. It's funny how she delivers grief or unintentional grief toward both sides of the spectrum. Though the only bad thing in the film for me, would be who she falls for in the end, I kind which it was Professor Fate she fell for since he's more interesting and would of made more sense. But then again that might have deterred the villain quality for Fate unless she converted to being a villain, so I can't complain too much about that.But of course the main attraction is Professor Fate played brilliantly by Jack Lemon. This character is my favorite role from him, he's literally a live action cartoon villain. He looks like Snide Whiplash from the cartoon Duddley Do Right with that mustache and wardrobe. he was also a partial inspiration to villain Dr. Horrible in the web mini series "Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog".He's character is pretty much a blowhole but a fun one that just simply wants to beat or kill Lesile by any means necessary. It's just funny how much he just puts it out there, not even bothering to keep himself undercover even though logically that is what villains should do, at the rate of exposure it's surprising that he's hasn't been arrested yet.I even like his back and forth with his flunky played by one of my favorite actors Peter Falk and yes for the record I'm a "Columbo" fan; his character himself is hilarious because of how dumb he really is, but a little touching because of how loyal he is to Fate and is probably the Fate's only friend.It's just funny how many tricks he's trying to pull to sabotage and beat Lesile in the race almost more than those power ups you'd get in the "Mario Kart" video games. But just like Wille Coyte's schemes in the Road Runner cartoons they don't work.But he's interesting not just in persona but you can sort of emphasize with him a bit. As he's a person you can easily see he's simply a person that doesn't have all the break in life and is really trying hard to have a piece of the good life. Which is part of why he hates Lesile so much because Lesile is a person that practically has all those breaks in life, without even trying. It's sort of like with us where some of us have to work hard or exercise a painful amount of patience to get what we want, while there are some in a higher class that have things handed to them and not always appreciated it. Yeah, I know it hardly seems fair, but this all the more made me on Prof Fate's side and made us want him to win, despite not entirely deserving it (he is playing dirty after all)."The Great Race" goes the distance.Rating: 4 stars

The Summary line says it all. While Tony Curtiss is supposed to be the hero, IMHO, Jack Lemmon effortlessly steals the show with his zany portrayal of a mad cap, conniving professor. Both Keenan Wynn & Peter Falk are a delight as the long-suffering side kicks and you can almost see the Peter Falk mannerisms take shape for his subsequent portrayal of Columbo.Natalie Wood's role itself is a bit of a lightweight one, but that was true of a lot of the period movies, but who cares! When she looks as luscious as a Boston Creme Pie, all you want to do is eat her up, lightweight or otherwise. Too bad, they don't come like that anymore. Sigh!

Blake Edwards directed this long farce about a professional daredevil(played by Tony Curtis as "The Great Leslie") who decides, in order to promote automobile sales, to stage a New York to Paris road race. He is challenged and relentlessly pursued by arch-rival Professor Fate(played very broadly by Jack Lemmon) and his inept assistant Max(Peter Falk). The beautiful Natalie Wood plays feminist/suffragette Maggie Dubois, who uses her connection to the local newspaper to attach herself to Leslie, much to his consternation.Plot goes on far too long, but even worse, is seldom funny, since it labors for laughs by throwing in everything from a (literally) mustache-twirling villain, to an extended pie-throwing fight, among assorted car crashes and crazy plot developments.Good cast cannot save it.