Review of My Favorite Year (1982) by Steve N — 07 Mar 2011
Director -- and sometimes-actor -- Richard Benjamin has run hot and cold over the years when choosing projects to helm. For every one of his Mermaids's or Money Pit's, he has a Milk Money or My Stepmother is an Alien blighting his portfolio like a malignant tumor.
His best effort is this fictionalized account of Errol Flynn's guest appearance on Sid Caesar's Your Show of Shows in the 1950s. Peter O'Toole is typically brilliant as Alan Swann, the besotted Errol Flynn-like Hollywood star whose ebbing career has brought him low enough to appear on a television sketch comedy show.
O'Toole's comedic turns are rare (How to Steal a Million) but he attacks them fearlessly. The ensemble cast is a delight, with standouts like Lainie Kazan and Joseph Bologna going above and beyond.
Director Bemjamin does a superb job recreating the look and feel of New York in the 50s, as well as the zaniness of live TV during the Golden Age of Television. The script is first-rate.
This review of My Favorite Year (1982) was written by Steve N on 07 Mar 2011.
My Favorite Year has generally received positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
