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Sang-froid at the demolition derby, just the mise en scène for a joke about God and showbiz. The fraternal hipsters look like Jean-Pierre Melville replicas and act like Dragnet extras, Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi with a deadpan silliness humming behind their uniform of suits, fedoras, shades. Out of the slammer and back in the old parochial orphanage, "filthy mouths and bad attitude" rebuked by Sister Stigmata (Kathleen Freeman), who will not take graft to keep the taxman at bay. A divine mission in Chicago, where illumination comes courtesy of His Eminence James Brown and his somersaulting Holy Rollers. The band reunion and the foes they make along the way: John Candy leading the Keystone Kops, Charles Napier and Nashville bruisers, "the fucking Nazi Party" with Henry Gibson in hot pursuit. All that, plus the jilted bride with flamethrower in hand (Carrie Fisher). The original Saturday Night Live skit amplification, shaped by John Landis as a rhythm and blues concert film with bonus jokes and stunts. "Two honkies out there dressed like Hasidic diamond merchants," announces Aretha Franklin before turning "Think" into a blast of casual incandescence in a soul diner. John Lee Hooker embodies Maxwell Street with a growling "Boom Boom," the keyboard is reflected on Ray Charles' dark glasses as he storms through "Shake a Tail Feather," Cab Calloway back in white tux struts and scats a resplendent "Minnie the Moocher." (Generous with doofy backup, Aykroyd and Belushi settle for the Rawhide theme behind a chicken-wire fence.) The chaser is a heap of wrecked police cruisers, with the rare calm of a few seconds of "The Girl from Ipanema" muzak. "Our Lady of Blessed Acceleration, don't fail me now!" Kaurismäki's Leningrad Cowboys are the unexpected beneficiaries. With Steven Cropper, Donald "Duck" Dunn, Murphy Dunne, Willie Hall, Tom Malone, Lou Marini, Matt Murphy, Alan Rubin, Steve Lawrence, Frank Oz, Jeff Morris, Steven Williams, and Twiggy.
--- Fernando F. Croce |