MURDER IN A SMALL TOWN (1999) **1/2 I can't think of any actor who so naturally expresses the essence of humanity as effortlessly as Gene Wilder. I guess Jimmy Stewart was close. Watching Gene in a film is something comparable to going to a confessional, or a good shrink, or reading some Camus or Vonnegut. I'm not saying that he's the most versatile actor, I don't believe that. In fact he pretty much always seems like himself in another life. But what he does so brilliantly is express the sadness, and happiness, and ultimately the impenetrable humour of it all. And without milking anything. The flashbacks where he remembers his wife could easily have been turned into something morbid and wallowing involving the terrible final days of Gilda Radner. Instead Gene mentions it more or less in passing--it's too important not to say anything about those feelings at all, but there's not so much point in lingering, even when your objective is to be intimate with your public. His throw-away lines on anti-Semitism are absolutely hysterical, and terribly cutting, and probably do more good to combat that evil than court-mandated workshops ever could. The only problem with the film is that other people are in it. Some of them are ok, some are pretty lousy, and if you ever watch movies of this genre you're already familiar with every major component of the plot. It doesn't take long-maybe halfway through-to get to the point where you're wrapping up loose ends, though it should also be said that there are some very clever loose ends that I hadn't even thought of. So watch it, and laugh a little, and maybe it will make you feel very smart. There's not enough of that going around, you know.
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