Review of Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982) by Edith N — 06 May 2009
"You know how to dial, don't you? You put your finger in the hole and make little circles.".
This blending of classic Hollywood footage with Martin's early absurdist humor is the Godfather of our mash-up culture. It's an amazing blend of a clever idea and modern humor - Steve gets to dress like a woman! - and it's easily the best of the Martin/Reiner films that launched Steve as a movie star. Even the music is a perfect echo of those classic films. Other reviewers here seem unimpressed with the effort that went into this storytelling; I think the effort pays off in a story that fits the plaid suit like a glove. Or a key in a train station deposit box. Or a potful of Steve's famous java.
It helps to love the original movies, as I do (Burt Lancaster in "The Killers" - WOW) but even if you miss references like Martin telling Charles Laughton that he looks like The Hunchback of Notre Dame, you can still love the coffee joke and the nose joke and the bullet-sucking joke and the pajamas joke.
It won't surprise anyone to know that my gang of friends and I practiced the cigarette joke in our spare time the summer this movie came out . . .
This review of Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982) was written by Edith N on 06 May 2009.
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid has generally received positive reviews.
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