A Night At The Opera(John)

I believe this is the first straight up comedy that we've reviewed here on the blog. A Night At The Opera is one of those classic comedies that influenced so many other films in the genre. And the best part is, it's still freaking funny.

I'm going to break my usual review structure and try something different. This movie has some pretty bad acting, the plot is extremely minimal. The music is pretty good and the cinematography is fairly dated and crappy(lots of obvious cuts).

Now that all of that is out of the way, we can focus on the real reason you should watch this movie. This movie is freaking hilarious. The film was made in 1935 and stars three of the Marx brothers: Groucho, Harpo and Chico. I had seen bits and pieces of some other Marx brothers movies but I'd never known exactly how funny they were. Until now.

I was seriously laughing throughout the whole film. So much comedy comes your way that you will probably have to watch the movie again because you more than likely laughed through some funny parts and didn't hear them. The delivery by the three brothers is unique and yet melds together perfectly. Groucho delivers his comedy in the form of funny body motions and quick, lightning fast jokes. Harpo doesn't speak through the whole film, but is able to be funny by making weird faces and honking his horn and cutting things up with his scissors. Chico was the least funny in my opinion, but he still had his moments.

There were three particular bits that made my sides split. Watching these scenes, I couldn't help but think how before their time the Marx brothers were. I love the Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy and Abbott and Costello. While these guys were very funny, their stuff is your standard fare slapstick comedy. The scenes I watched in A Night At The Opera were amazing and so innovative.

If you are a fan of comedy, there is no reason you should not see this film. It has everything you could want. This will make you want to watch the entire Marx brothers collection of movies. I know it makes me want to. I'm giving it a well deserved 9.5 out of 10.

- John Murphy