This installment of the Rule of Three features scenes of great slapstick, those moments that make you recoil in vicarious pain even as you laugh. The lowest form of comedy? Sure. But when done well, slapstick can deliver a succinct jab of sublime human misery. These are moments that stick with you and elicit a wincing smile even when you know they’re coming.
Andrew’s Three
Feel Anything There? – Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)
In an agonizing sequence from Franz Oz’s remake of Bedtime Story, Michael Caine’s Lawrence repeatedly and gleefully savages the legs of Steve Martin’s Freddy with a reed, while the latter sits in a wheelchair feigning insensitivity. The setup involves dueling cons, and Lawrence has the upper hand in this scene, which he exploits with unconcealed sadism. There’s a delicious comic tension at work, and we feel Freddy’s panic about how much he can tolerate and how far Lawrence is going to take it. The scene just goes on and on. Martin’s tormented mugging is priceless.
Inadequate Clearance - Raising Arizona (1987)
Am I the only one who discerned that Beatrix and Elle’s trailer duel in Kill Bill is practically a recreation of Hi and Gale’s equally brutal brawl in Raising Arizona? Ethan and Joel Coen’s take is superior in my mind due to one moment: Hi sweeps his hands up to pummel Gale’s prone back, only to discover that the trailer’s ceiling is just a bit too low. His knuckles scrape across the rough ceiling tiles with a sickening sound. Hi then holds up his skinned hands in agonized bewilderment and lets out a piercing howl of horror. Squirm-worthy comic anguish.
Driving the Point Home – Young Frankenstein (1974)
The humor in Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein relies mostly on Gene Wilder’s nebbishness and the ludicrous intersection of stock scenes and characters, but it has its slapstick moments. My favorite occurs in an opening scene, when Wilder’s Professor Frankenstein vainly attempts to distance himself from his grandfather’s experiments. Brandishing a scalpel as he becomes increasingly agitated, Wilder concludes by slamming the tool into his own thigh for emphasis. It’s a moment of breath-sucking horror, but Wilder’s reaction is the payoff. He regards the scalpel in disbelief, calmly crosses his leg to conceal it, and stammers breathlessly, “Class dismissed.â€
Libby’s Three
Cream or Sugar? - The Big Lebowski (1998)
After partying with Jackie Treehorn, an inebriated Dude is picked up by the Malibu police. He attempts to drunkenly explain his situation, but the Chief hates people like the Dude. After the Chief’s explains why he was arrested, the Dude comments that he “wasn’t listening.†The Chief throws his ceramic coffee mug square at the Dude’s forehead, knocking him backwards in his chair. The sound effect at the moment of mug-to-head contact is gleefully painful. In the Dude’s estimation, this cop is clearly a fascist, but the Chief is finished with him. “Stay out of Malibu, Lebowski!”
Sudden Impact - Elf (2003)
Naysayers be damned: Will Ferrell is a master of physical comedy, and a film where he plays a giant elf provides ample opportunity for slapstick. The film’s physical gags mostly rely on fish-out-of-water interactions between Ferrel’s Buddy the Elf and twenty-first century New York City. During Buddy’s first days in the city, he’s walking towards Gimbel’s to find Santa. He strides across the street, and immediately gets hit by a yellow cab. It’s just so silly, and despite the predictability, I laugh every single time. Later he warns, “Watch out for the yellow ones! They don’t stop!”
Pointed Criticism - Shaun of the Dead (2004)
The one hilarious “ouch†moment that sings to me every time I see it occurs in the climactic pub scene where Shaun et al. are fighting off hordes of zombies. To the tune of “Don’t Stop Me Now” they employ simple bar props as weapons: pool cues, liquor, barstools, fire extinguishers… and darts. The gag that makes me snort in laughter every time I see is when an errant dart lodges in Shaun’s head. He pulls it out, there’s a small spurt of blood, and they continue their battle with the undead.