Where to watch Life Stinks
2 1/2 Stars
Sticking to great comedy in a way no one else can, Mel Brooks plays a wealthy business man who finds himself getting suckered into a bet with a rival business over the worst slum area of L.A. They both want to develop on it and both own half. Mel agrees to living as a homeless person in this neighborhood. If he can make it 30 days without his wallet or anything else, then the rival will sign over his half of the property. It’s full of visual gags, one liners and even some heart warming scenes. Mel’s character learns a lot along the way.
Life Stinks sees Mel Brooks venture outside his comfort zone of parody films and delivers an homage to the 1940s’ comedies. This is a lightweight and sometimes amusing movie with social commentary on classism, health care, and homlessness, all heady subjects for a comedy from the venerable writer/director/actor Mel Brooks. This film represents one of three projects helmed by Brooks during the 1990s; it is better than “Dracula: Dead and Loving It,” but it’s not as relentlessly humorous as “Robin Hood: Men in Tights.”
Life Stinks is the outlier in the Brooks filmography; it’s not exactly successful, but it’s ambitious and heartfelt. A tighter editing job, removing a silly dance number and fewer fade-outs in-between scenes, would have given the movie a more polished presentation. However, Mel Brooks is still one of the most likable of all the classic screen comedians.
Directed by: Mel Brooks
Written by: Mel Brooks, Ron Clark, Rudy De Luca
Starring: Mel Brooks, Lesley Ann Warren, Jeffrey Tambor