Dotterbart (1983)

Dotterbart: Directed by Mel Damski. With Graham Chapman, Peter Boyle, Cheech Marin, Tommy Chong. After serving two decades in prison, Yellowbeard (Graham Chapman) breaks out determined to recover the treasure that he buried so long ago, alongside his son, old crew, and the British Navy.

“I just watched this again, 20+ years after seeing it on cable. I had the vaguest recollections of the movie, came here to see the cast, and thought it would be fun to watch.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt isnu0026#39;t.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe list of talent in this movie is amazing – but the results are boring. There was enough talent here to make this into Blazing Saddles of the Sea with the right script. But the script wasnu0026#39;t right. Sure, it has a plot. But just about everything in it is lackluster. Thereu0026#39;s so much talent wasted on lame jokes and premises that fizzle that it becomes sad to watch it all slip away.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMost of the jokes are obvious, and the rest are either pointless or so base as to be insulting to the people they have performing them.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAs an example, thereu0026#39;s a scene early in the film where Eric Idle heads to Lord Lambournu0026#39;s estate. As he gets out of his carriage, the camera cuts to a pile of horse manure. Then we cut to him stepping in the horse manure the last shot showed us. Then he stands there and waits for his assistant to clean his shoes while heu0026#39;s still standing in the manure. Thatu0026#39;s it. End Joke.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eJust seconds later, after he meets lord and lady lambourn, the camera cuts to a man about 15 feet away peeing on a hedge. Lady lambourn tells him to stop it. He runs away. She chases him. Thatu0026#39;s it. End Joke.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIf either of those sound lame when theyu0026#39;re written out, theyu0026#39;re just as bad when youu0026#39;re watching them. The movie is filled with bits that could have been in any movie about any subject, but they just happened to be in this movie because someone thought theyu0026#39;d get a laugh. They do nothing to advance plot, characters, or even the next 5 seconds of screen time.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnd if youu0026#39;re thinking of watching for the performances–they donu0026#39;t really manage to salvage anything. It feels like after a certain point everyone started going through the motions just to get the film in the can.”