A Fine Mess

Blake Edwards comes a cropper in this lunk-headed slapstick homage to Laurel and Hardy, Mack Sennett, and Jerry Lewis. Ted Danson and Howie Mandell play Spence Holden and Dennis Powell, a couple of idiots who find themselves involved with a pack of gangsters. Spence is a two-bit actor who is at a ...more

This late-period venture into screwball comedy isn't Blake Edwards's finest moment: the comedic highs are spaced a little too far for the film to cohere and it runs out of steam when it should be building up to manic heights in the third act. That said, A Fine Mess offers some little pleasures for comedy fans: Ted Danson and Howie Mandel make an engaging comedic team, gliding through the slim storyline with ease, and Stuart Margolin and Richard Mulligan give them a run for the money as a ...more