Watch out, because I’m about to make one of those sweeping pop culture pronouncements:
No one knows how to make a comedy anymore.
After watching (or sitting through) “Austin Powers in Goldmember” and “Men in Black 2,” I’ve begun to despair finding a decent comedy in the movie theater. Dramas, sure. “Frailty,” “Road to Perdition,” “13 Conversations About One Thing,” and lots of others I could name, have been great.
And I’m not talking about whimsical movies like “The Royal Tenenbaums,” which I think is a modern classic. I’m talking about the laugh-out-loud comedy. (You have to understand, I love “The Money Pit.” So take my dubious taste into account.)
With both Austin Powers and MIB2, there were a couple of laugh-out-loud moments, punctuated with long stretches of, well, non-comedy. And in a comedy, something that isn’t funny isn’t really anything. It just lies there.
They say comedy is hard. I just didn’t realize it was this hard.
You didn’t see “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” I take it. I’m pretty cynical, and I really liked it. Laughed out loud, in fact.