If one were to make a comedy thirty to forty years ago starring Chevy Chase and Richard Dreyfuss, it may have had more relevancy. Chase was once one of the kings of comedy thanks to his time on Saturday Night Live as well as films like Caddyshack and National Lampoon’s Vacation. Meanwhile, Dreyfuss was a superstar himself thanks to his collaborations in many of Steven Spielberg’s best works, though has had his own success in comedy as well. Though neither have been in the spotlight for some time, each appearing sporadically in small supporting roles in films, with Chase’s only big project being in the TV series Community, which never received high ratings during its run, despite critical praise. Both actors’ better days are behind them, and mainly thrive off nostalgia, which seems to be the biggest theme of their latest co-starring feature, Netflix’s The Last Laugh.
The film follows Al Hart (Chase), an entertainment manager who’s growing old and is starting to need better care, so his granddaughter Jeannie (Kate Micucci) checks him into a retirement home. There, he reunites with an old client named Buddy Green (Dreyfuss), a former stand-up comedian who retired for a more stable career as a doctor fifty years ago. Quickly bored of the retirement home, Al convinces Buddy to revive his comedy act, and they escape the home to go on one last tour together to recapture their glory days.
The film feels like it serves as a metaphor for Chase and Dreyfuss’ own dwindling careers. Both have not had a major hit in many years, and this is essentially them having one last go at stardom. Unfortunately, while the two have aged, the jokes haven’t at all. The jokers try to recreate the feel of comedies that were prevalent during the two actors’ peak, though without much of the clever wit present. There are sitcom-like misunderstandings, bad puns, as well as raunchy jokes that contain four-letter words and drug references for the sake of it. And all the while, the delivery on all of them just falls completely flat.
The film often tries mixing in comedy and drama, and where the laughs fail, the emotion fails even harder. Much of the film’s attempts at having any emotional weight often comes off as manipulative and forced, and sometimes goes nowhere altogether. Neither Al nor Buddy are really well developed characters. Most of the movie feels aimless, with them wandering from place to place, with Buddy performing his stand-up. There will be the occasional conversation where the two reflect on their lives that often feel repetitive and serve as an excuse for character development.
And for a movie that wanders a lot, there often doesn’t feel like an actual journey is involved. Many of the dramatic beats involve things working out almost too easily for the two. Despite Al nor Buddy having any involvement in the entertainment industry in quite some time, Al manages to book an extensive cross-country comedy tour for Buddy with no problem, and manages to easily convince people to do what he needs in order to get his way. Nothing he does feels truly earned, and all he has to do is say the word and things are fine for him.
Meanwhile, Buddy has one bad act in the first leg of the tour, then suddenly becomes a hit sensation from there on out, always having a perfect set each night that culminates in a performance on The Tonight Show in New York City. In a day where it’s extremely difficult for a standup comedian to make it big, the film makes it seem like it’s so easy to become such a beloved figure in the scene, as long as they have the talent, and ultimately sends the wrong message.
In between all this, there’s a subplot in which Al and Buddy encounter Andie MacDowell as a woman name Doris, who becomes Al’s love interest. While Doris is meant to serve as a means to give Al some extra depth, the film ultimately does nothing with her character, never truly advancing the plot, and ultimately feeling as a way for the movie to fill its already brief runtime. The film will use her to make some cheap drug and sex references that are simply not funny, and she winds up leaving as quickly a she shows up. Al doesn’t really feel like a much different person because of her, and her inclusion feels like an unnecessary detour.
As the film heads into its third act, it begins dropping a lot of story elements that weren’t even remotely hinted at for most of the movie, in an attempt to demand the audience’s sympathy. Chris Parnell makes an appearance as Buddy’s son, in a rare dramatic turn for the normally deadpan comedian, and the film forces a supposed estranged father-son story line in for a moment, amongst other manipulative plot elements, and then quickly abandons this narrative in the very next scene, leaving audiences to question why it was even included in the first place, rather than feeling any more sorry for either Buddy or Al.
Dreyfuss himself is fairly charming as Buddy, and is probably the movie’s only saving grace. He contains some of the manic energy that he had in some of his more comedic efforts like What About Bob, but unfortunately, he can only do so much as the material is full of forced plot elements and unfunny jokes. Meanwhile, Chase does fine as the straight man, and manages to get in some salty, “cranky old man” jokes from time to time, but when the film requires him to deal with some of the more emotional material, his delivery is often stiff and uncomfortable. With the material itself already being forced and manipulative, Chase’s delivery in these moments makes it borderline unbearable.
The Last Laugh is a true misfire starring two former stars. While it contains a charismatic Richard Dreyfuss and occasionally has a funny moment here and there, its jokes are often stale and feel dated, its story contains mostly filler, and its more emotional material feels shoehorned and manipulative. If The Last Laugh truly was the last starring vehicle for either of the two actors, it’s a disappointing way to go out.
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