This Blu-ray is being released by Olive Films on May 24th, 2016.
There are a lot of little movies out there that seem to have established something of a cult following over the years. Apparently, The Whoopee Boys is one such title. It has a high rating on IMDB and loads of very positive reviews. Sadly, I just didn’t get it. It’s a bizarre effort that is so strange it is oddly fascinating, but I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it. At least those who love the title will be pleased to see it well presented in high definition.
The story is absurd and baffling on several levels. Jake (Michael O’Keefe) and Barney (Paul Rodriguez) are crude and arrogant con-men who meet on the streets of New York and over the course of about ten seconds, become best friends. After skipping town, they end up in Florida, where Jake meets Olivia (Lucinda Jenney) who runs a school for orphaned children. She’s struggling to make ends meet; besides seemingly running the institute herself, the place is completely broke and doesn’t even have electricity (I guess we’re not supposed to think about the legal ramifications of this and its effect on the kids attending).
Thankfully, Olivia is about to inherit a huge fortune. The only problem is she must marry a high society type approved by her highfalutin uncle (Dan O’Herlihy). She only has a couple of weeks to marry, claim the money and escape financial ruin. So, what does love-struck Jake do? He runs off with Barney and enrolls in a swampland charm school where he will learn the skills to impress and woo her. Make sense? Not really… and by the way, all of this happens within the film’s first 20 minutes. And the are more developments as the pair begin to suspect that charm school owner (Denholm Elliott) is harboring a dark secret.
The jokes are really, really dumb, with several wince-inducing, horrific stereotypes presented. It was a different time, I suppose. At least O’Keefe possesses a certain, well, charismatic assholishness that results in an amusingly smug expression or two. Rodriguez is given even less to work with, but his high energy level helps to maintain viewer interest through the numerous clunkers given to him… the script is full of them. Elliott also earns a chuckle or two when he begins to instruct Jake and Barney. His lessons include a surreal vomit scam.
I will also admit that a few of the gags at a society get-together do work reasonably well. There’s a bizarre challenge that results in a lacrosse-like arena competition. Unfortunately, the filmmakers appear to get bored with the potentially funny concept and abandon it well before it maximizes its potential.
It all feels scattershot. Even for a ridiculous comedy, one can’t help but constantly question the motives and actions of the characters. Perhaps the most confusing element is that after all of the training that Jake and Barney undergo to attain their special skills, Barney seems to completely ignore all of it. He comes into high society, causes trouble and consistently sabotages the actions of his partner for no reason whatsoever.
Who knows, maybe it’s this kind of inexplicable strangeness that appeals to its fan-base. In fact, it’s actually kind of surprising that Paramount Pictures ended up distributing this title. The movie has the appearance and feel of a lower-tier studio product, like something from the Cannon Group or Embassy. Olive Films has once again done a decent job with the transfer. Most of it looks remarkably sharp (there is one outdoor scene that’s very hazy and blown out, but this appears to be a problem with the original photography and not the transfer).
So yes, after viewing it for the first time, I can definitely say that I’m not a big supporter of this shambolic comedy. But I know that The Whoopee Boys has a following and I’m sure they’ll be thrilled to know that they can now pick-up this long out-of-print comedy on Blu-ray.