Nothing good ever happens on New Year’s Eve. Somebody told me a long time ago their alcoholic father described is as “amateur night”. Then there was that terrible romantic comedy ensemble piece New Year’s Eve in 2011. Hell, even one of the worst Peanuts specials takes place on the holiday. But nothing associated with the holiday is as bad as 1987’s Happy New Year.
Actually, the script will explore an interesting new direction in the final third, and there will be a radical change in tone. We’ll get to that eventually. For now, let’s address the first two acts, which are dire.
Narration begins during the opening credits, which is rarely a good sign. The speaker is Charles Durning, and it will be revealed he is talking about Peter Falk’s character, though we do not know either of these men yet. Because of this, we later have to retroactively apply some of the information conveyed here, which is annoying. Actually, there is very little in that narration which is relevant to the plot, which makes it unnecessary for it to be there in the first place.
And yet, the narration continues throughout the picture. We’ll see Falk and Durning staking out a jewelry store to rob, and we can tell from Falk’s expression he is instantly smitten with saleswoman Wendy Hughes. We can see this in his face, through that miracle known as “acting”. But we are still subjected to Durning telling us about it. Some movies tell instead of show, and this one becomes very irritating by showing and telling.
I could have also done without much of what we’re shown. Makeup turns Falk into, first, an elderly gentleman and, next, that man’s sister. The latex prosthetics are surprisingly effective, though much of the work is done through the actor’s performance. Fundamentally, these scenes should be funny. They are not.
That is the fatal flaw in a film with many deficiencies. I felt like I was watching the work of students taking a class on how to do comedy. We see jokes painstakingly set-up. We see them executed. And yet one and after another comes down with a crashing thud. The Marx Brothers used to deliberately leave a gap after their best lines, so that the audience would be finished laughing before possibly missing the next joke. A curious gap after each joke in this movie only emphasizes a joke should have preceded it. It is like a eulogy is being repeatedly held at the tomb of the unknown punchline.
I love Peter Falk, and he seems to be having a good time here, so it is so hard to drop the hammer on this picture. Similarly, Durning appears content, and he even has a decent, natural rapport with Falk. But the leads being chummy and happy is not enough. There are a few fundamental elements missing here, chief among them is any kind of genuine tension.
I say that even when there is a genuinely surprising twist in the second act, and that is Falk is not successful with the heist. Durning manages to get away with the money, yet there is not even any suspense or tension in him doing so. Eventually, Falk will be released from prison, and Durning will give him his share. Nice, but this does not a movie make. This is why heist pictures are never about everything going well and everybody living happily ever after.
We don’t even know if Falk is inconvenienced in any way by prison. The time flies by in montage, with Hughes relocating to New York to wait for his release. The closest the film comes to anything innovative is Falk discovering Hughes has not been faithful physically while he was away from years. While I don’t feel he has any right to hold that against her, his struggle to reconcile this is the only time the movie comes close to being honest.
I was surprised to learn after the fact this is a remake of well-regarded 1973 French film La Bonne Année. I haven’t seen that picture, but what happens here is so haphazard that I would be shocked if the original film had the same story beats. Maybe it does, and the plot is just so mishandled here as to feel like a mess. I don’t intend to watch the earlier film to find out.
Hard to believe, but Happy New Year is not the worst movie I have ever seen. Even without the lack of successful jokes, there is still something to be said for watching ace actors doing the film equivalent of hitting some easy pitches for a while. Still, it is an example of why movies need a bit of grit, a bit of tension and a struggle. Without those elements, you don’t have a story. I suspect this is what those Hallmark movies I keep hearing about are like and, if they are, I can understand the allure, even if I don’t intend to ever see anything like this again.
Dir: John G. Avildsen
Starring Peter Falk, Charles Durning, Wendy Hughes
Watched as part of Mill Creek blu-ray box set Peter Falk 4-Film Comedy Collection