Two best friends go head to head with rough bank
robbers after accidentally learning of their crime.
One nurse and one American actress polish their tough
thug speak as they blackmail the real bad guys with
bluster and cuss words in this British romp.
Hip-hoppy and crisp, the film seems to be putting
forth effort towards comedy ... but I laughed out
loud only once (though, admittedly I smiled at least
a few times). Possibly I missed their humor. A
mention of the film "Charlie's Angels"
hints "High Heels" may be striving for that kind of
action/humor. Why they miss I'm not quite sure, could
be just that the bits ain't funny. Could be that the
object of their spoof isn't clear. Personally, I
think this premise could have worked if our
protagonists were not so "real" or "smart" ... they
need to be stupid. Why did "Dumb and Dumber" work? or
"Corky Romano?"
or "Bill and Ted?" Because these people are clearly
imbeciles. When they make totally idiotic decisions
... we're not surprised, or insulted, we just laugh
at them.
But, put normal people in situations where their
decisions don't compute ... we don't laugh ... we
narrow our eyes.
A two-minute multi-screen sequence of our heroes
rendezvousing with the bad guys at the train station
falls far from the mark. Where was the mark? Were
they spoofing a spoof?
(Also, in my particular screening ... the sound
levels were way too high; this annoyance could have
skewed my opinion.)
That said, I enjoyed the filmmakers' attention to
detail, always opening a scene on a specific unique
event to get the audience guessing. I particularly
enjoyed one detail shot of the most menacing thug
relaxing on the sofa with a huge wall display of
automatic weapons behind him as he enjoys "Pomp and
Circumstance" played at full volume. The contrast of
classical music and guns strikes that oddball humor I
think they may have been going for all along.
Additionally, this scene sets up the only big laugh
... to come later in the film. Minnie and Mary (good
friends off screen as well as on) both give fine
performances. They keep the ball rolling, never
boring, but seldom electric.
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