Review of The Incredible Mr. Limpet (1964) by Robert B — 01 Jan 2010
I had a tough time getting into this film. The animation ranged from OK to some pretty cool work with the Nazi subs. The film looks vintage 1940's Hollywood even though it was made in 1964. The story suffers from early 60's - 50's film morality.
The center of the film's story focuses on Mr. Limpet, his wife and his best friend who's a Navy sailor. It's established early on that Limpet is a fish out of water in this marriage and that Mrs.
Limpet has a LOT more in common with Limpet's best friend as they constantly complain abou how lame Limpet is. (Not liking poker, staying up late, partying etc...) And the dialogue implies that maybe the best friend and Mrs.
Limpet are having an affair under Limpet's nose but the screenwriters quickly reel in every suggestion and make Mrs. Limpet the ever dutiful/ suffering Brooklyn wife and his best friend a true and blue pal.
Even when Limpet turns into a fish and finds the love of his life (another fish who's ready to hiy the spawning grounds asap) he still feels he has o go back to New York and talk o his human wife even though he hated being a human, and of course he's still an American fish so he wants to fight the Nazis! A lot of this subtext is missed by kids, and mine found it an OK film to wach once, but as time goes by it becomes out-of-touch and a cultural oddity.
Knots's performance is A+ as is most of the cast.
This review of The Incredible Mr. Limpet (1964) was written by Robert B on 01 Jan 2010.
The Incredible Mr. Limpet has generally received positive reviews.
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