Kiss Me, Stupid

Cheeky sex farce that was/is quite daring in its suggestion that adultery can save a marriage. Martin plays the popular crooner with the right mix of charm and sleaze, and Walston is funny as an insecure stooge who married out of his league. Novak's role was originally intended for Marilyn, who would have brought more zest to the part, but she is likeable, although she is easily upstaged by Farr. Wilder's cynicism adds another layer to the comedy, but he doesn't know when to quit.

As the Hays Code continued to erode, they let Billy Wilder make more and more smut. This is better than _The Seven-Year Itch_, but that's not saying much

Lesser Wilder is still fairly enjoyable, though the Walston character's obscene jealously has dated very poorly. His performance is good, though. Martin plays a very close facsimile of himself and the other performances are fun as well. There are some clever lines and bits, though not as many as in many other Wilders.

Solid theatrical adaptation. Not as jam-packed with witticisms as I've seen in clips from other Wilder movies, but it still has some unique moments. The drama is mostly predictable until the last third when we get some surprisingly humane and empathetic resolutions.

Lacks the pace and wit of other wilder movies but damn this just oozes sleeze. Weird performances, weird movie.

Viewed September 27, 2018.

Sex farce is oftentimes in questionable taste, but still undeniably funny -- key is Walston's Lemmony performance, which is so hyper-stylised as to be a potential liability but for this reviewer is a magnificent farcical effort -- ditto to Martin's excellent self-spoofing (or maybe not so much) performance, and Novak seemingly channelling Monroe (one could imagine Lemmon, Curtis and Monroe filling these roles!) Ends on a pretty sour and rancid deneumont with Farr, but still largely enjoyable.

"'You're gonna see things that you've never seen before.'" http://illusionpodcast.blogspot.com/2015/08/episode-67-unedited-itbs-commentary.html

78.000

Pretty reminiscent of Wilder's best comedies, but it isn't very funny, the characters often act oddly in order to set up the farce, and everybody is just as slimy as Dean Martin.

definitely not funny. one of Wilder's worst.

* Casting, Acting : 9 * Script : 9 * Directing, Aura : 7 * Ease of Viewing : 7 * Naked Eye : 8

Wilder is really off mark here. Dean Martin, Kim Novak and Ray Walston are very sleazy--and not in a good way.

Draggy, tasteless, surprisingly unamusing smoking room story, with the actors behaving as though driven against their will (apart from Dean Martin, ideally cast as the idol who gets a headache if he doesn't have sex every night). Some good wisecracks, but it should have been much faster and funnier.

The plot is definitely one that--if Wilder had been on top of the game, he could have pulled of to be an amazing movie, but he really slumped on this one, it's just not as funny as it should have been, in fact I didn't laugh once. On the other hand, it was entertaining for the duration.