Előre!

I tried watching Avanti! twice and in both cases I felt the same mild detachment and disinterest. I have a similar feeling about Wilder as I do about Hitchcock. I knew his most famous films and in my eyes, he was a flawless creator of perfect thrillers. However, over time I realized that he was also capable of mediocre films that left me puzzled. If there is something that works perfectly in Avanti!, it is the presence of the proven Jack Lemmon, who portrays what we are accustomed to seeing from him. However, he is unable to rely on such high-quality dialogues that made The Apartment and Some Like It Hot great comedies that have not aged even after all the years. The functional humor in this film is scarce - in fact, I cannot even remember genuinely laughing even once. I couldn't relate to the characters, and Juliet Mills in the role of Pamela didn't impress me either. Perhaps only the hotel manager, Mr. Carlucci, suited my image of a comedic figure and stood out in my eyes. I also have a problem with the theme. The way it casually deals with the motif of infidelity (actually justifying it in the name of romantic excitement) somewhat irritated me. Could it be that I'm becoming a moralist in my old age? If the film had a standard runtime of 90 minutes, I would give it 3 stars, but Wilder overreached and didn't understand that this script could not sustain 140 minutes. Unfortunately, at this length, the film clearly bores me at times. Overall impression: 45%. (2019.02.25)

This comedy is meticulously crafted down to the smallest detail, with the wonderful duo of Jack Lemmon and Juliet Mills and the magnificent Clive Revill as a professional hotelier who solves every problem without blinking and only sleeps in the winter. He was the one I enjoyed the most. It says this film is "almost as good as Some Like It Hot". Nonsense. It's much better. Despite the length, it entertains from beginning to end, and the many types of humor make it a balanced cocktail that is easy to drink. (2014.10.26)