For fans of the “old” Steve Martin, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is an interesting case study in how an actor can evolve in ability, but devolve in likeability, over time. A story of two territorial con men vying for the best ruse in the French Riviera, this movie unfolds quickly and provides an excellent backdrop for some zany sight gags. Whether you enjoy the film depends on whether you can forgive a mediocre performance by Michael Caine as the stately con with a conscience and withstand jokes that occasionally cross the line into crudity.
The interesting aspect of this movie, which was based on the 1963 madcap caper In The Bedroom, is that it marked the first collaboration between director Frank Oz and Martin, who later worked together on the excellent (and funnier) Bowfinger. Here, Martin forces too many of his jokes, wrinkling up his face like he did in The Jerk, even when he’s just chatting with sailors about lost love. By the end of the movie, you realize why Martin later abandoned the shtick. At the same time, he’s also much more loveable and less aware of his stardom than he was in later performances, especially in a scene where he pretends to have a ‘Napoleon complex’ in order to rip-off an heiress.
Just when the gags start getting the funniest, the movie switches to a slightly more serious tone, plodding through a series of twists and turns and losing its comedic flare. Scenes with Caine seem awkward, as though the two stars were not only competing for the best con, but also for the best scene. A quick featurette that’s included with the DVD version of the movie underscores this point when the two stars exchange quips about the movie and then scowl at each other in a brief but revealing moment of silence.
Director Oz was still honing his directing ability in the late 1980s. Early scenes involving Caine and some large ferns are so obviously forced that you can almost hear the stage direction and see the masking tape telling the actors where to stand. When Martin starts to role-play an armed forces vet confined to a wheelchair (but only because he has an emotional problem with dancing), his character becomes nothing more than a pawn in the madcap adventure. By the end of the movie, he suddenly switches back to his original conman character, with an overbearing swagger and off-kilter gleam in his eye.
A decade later, Martin’s Bowfinger character was much more his own, and Oz had learned a hands-off approach that let the characters live and breathe. Although its gags and twists are certainly redeeming qualities, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is just a so-so caper movie with a few laughs and not enough chemistry.
