First Family (1980)

I guess I have something in common with comedians Harvey Korman and Fred Willard, aside from being hilarious. Both men appeared in the 1979 political comedy "Americathon," which was a disaster. Not learning their lesson, they appeared in this even-worse political comedy. I watched "Americathon," didn't learn my lesson, and viewed this monstrosity days afterward.

President Manfred Link (Bob Newhart) is an unpopular president dealing with his idiotic administration as well as drunken First Lady Constance (Madeleine Kahn) and oversexed virgin daughter Gloria (Gilda Radner). The Links get roped into visiting the backward island of Upper Gorm, and discover the United States needs Upper Gorm more than Upper Gorm needs the United States.

Slight plot summary? Slightly plotted film. I don't know what Buck Henry was thinking writing and directing this (his first and last stab at solo directing a theatrical film), or what the performers read when they signed onto this (much like "Americathon"). How could these winning comedians be this unfunny? I cringed constantly as joke after joke, and set-up after set-up, would bomb badly. Scenes would drag on forever, with no purpose other than to get a cheap laugh that isn't there, and Henry kept the camera rolling, confident that something was going to stick. The cast flailed and underperformed, the sets and special effects look cheap, and Henry's camera set-ups are terrible. This isn't smart and satirical, this is stupid- a word I rarely use to describe a film, but I'm making an exception here.

"First Family" makes "Americathon" look like "Being There." I waited forty-five years to finally watch this thing, and now I wish I could have put it off for another forty-five years.

Stats:
(1980) 97 min. (1/10)
-Written and Directed by Buck Henry
-Cast: Bob Newhart, Gilda Radner, Madeleine Kahn, Richard Benjamin, Bob Dishy, Harvey Korman, Austin Pendleton, Rip Torn, Fred Willard, John Hancock, Julius Harris, Buck Henry, Miriam Flynn, Roger Bowen
(R)- Mild physical violence, some profanity, some sexual content, strong sexual references, some adult situations, alcohol use
Media Viewed: DVD