Heartbeeps*1981) Review
March 17th 2010 00:37
Today's film is the 1981 sci-fi romantic comedy, “Heartbeeps” staring Andy Kaufman and Bernadette Peters. This film was released with hopes of starting off a movie career for the quirky but lovable And Kaufman. Sadly, Kaufman's bizarre brand of humor didn't keep audiences interested and the despite a Christmas day release, it did poorly. Many believe Kaufman did this film as a vehicle for his own project: “The Tony Clifton Story” a mockumentary about the life and times of Kaufman's lounge singer altar-ego. Sadly, when Hearbeeps flopped Kaufman failed to find a studio for his own film, which would certainly have been a cult classic. I found a copy of Heartbeeps DVD at a local big lots in a $3 bin, among lots of strait to video Segal efforts and sci-fi originals. Being a fan of both Andy Kaufman and obscure cinema it would've taken an extinction level event for me to pass it up.
The plot centers around two domestic robots who were damaged in the line of duty and put on a factory shelf to await repair. Val Com (Kaufman) and Aqua Com (Peters) Strike up a conversation while awaiting repair an eventually fall in love, and decide to run off into the forest accompanied by the Catskill, a comedian robot who speaks in nothing but quirky one-liners written by the legendary Henny Youngman (Seriously, check the credits). The robots build a child name Philco out of spare parts, (who the unceremoniously use to haul the rest of their parts, child labor laws be damned) and work on evading Crimebuster, a heavily armed and malfunctioning law enforcement robot on a rampage.
Kaufman and Peters do an excellent job, even underneath the heavy makeup. However, the rest of the cast is a menagerie of z-list nobodies who's short careers either began or ended with this movie. The directing is actually not bad at all, beautifully photographed and well edited, though where it suffers is just simply in concept. While I'm a connoisseur of the weird and wonderful, I can see why most people would overlook Heartbeeps or just be turned off by the unique story. The film almost seems like a self-parody at times, as if it knows how silly it is but strives to be taken seriously despite it all.
If you can find it, and need to kill an afternoon Heartbeeps will certainly make you laugh, and it's even got a few heartwarming moments. If you call yourself a fan of Andy Kaufman, than you need to see this film at least once, his wacky humor abounds and you won't be let down.
| 26 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
