The First Nudie Musical

Loxxibana

at 9:34 am

A great sense of fun pervades this low-budget classic – everyone looks like they’re actually having a good time. Decent songs, some laugh out loud moments, enough nudity to justify the title (and then some) but it’s all done in a pretty innocent, 70s retro way – the kind of attitude we haven’t seen much of in recent years. Never really smutty, smarmy or knowing, however it sometimes borders on the amateurish in the script and acting department, and some of the dialogue seems ad-libbed but it would be churlish to criticize a movie like this for reasons like that. In any case, it all comes together pretty well in a feel-good oldtime musical kinda way. Given the title and concept, the production values are as good as can be expected.

The songs are good, the attention to detail is sometimes surprising and the production numbers done with style and flair.

The plot’s as disposable as any musical: cash-stricken movie studio boss is given one last chance to save his father’s bveloved studio, and comes up with the idea of making the first porno musical. That’s pretty much it, and throw in some great character comedy and conflict along the way; a Marlon-brando freak, a Sammy Davis Jnr lookalike songwriter, a maneating Fiona Richmond-style diva for a leading lady and a talentless nerd as a director….by now you get the idea.

The laughs thin out a bit towards the end as the story takes over, but the final production number is nicely satisfying with a heartwarming ending. All in, I reckon it’s hard to dislike a film like this, unless you’re really offended by the odd bit of harsh language, general raunchy humour and pubic hair. And if you are, why have you read this far?

Technical matters now: for a `special edition’ (“26th Anniversary”….?!?) the actual print looks pretty worn, the sound isn’t too great (no dolby 5.1 mix here) but who cares, when there’s so much fun to be had. The extras are nice and the 54-minute documentary is wonderfully chaotic too, with much of the cast and crew reunited.

Now, all I want is the soundtrack album!

Rating: 4 / 5