POPEYE (1980)

Not a bad film, but not really good either. It's a mumble-core musical comedy that is committed to being a live-action cartoon. The characters act and move in over-exaggerated, cartoon-ish ways. The expansive set for Sweet Haven is impressive too, and still stands on Malta to this day (You can explore the set for a small fee).

Robin Williams is perfectly cast as Popeye (This was his film debut), and is the best character and actor in the movie (Doesn't help that the citizens of Sweet Haven are generally unlikable). Shelly Duvall looks and sounds exactly like Olive Oyl, but her singing is just the worst. Paul L. Smith plays Bluto, and he's fine enough (although his singing voice is dubbed over by John Wallace). Ray Walston (Best known for My Favorite Martian, as well as numerous film roles) isn't great as Poopdeck Pappy. Bill Irwin (best known for Lou Lou Who in Jim Carrey's The Grinch and as Carey Loudermilk in the series Legion. This was his first film role) is one of the standouts of the ensemble (the guy always running after his hat), his physical comic performance is well-done.

Harry Nilsson (a prolific singer/songwriter) did the songs and music for the film, but the words are tough to make out for each one (with subtitles, it becomes clear the songs aren't written well either), and the songs generally don't sound good (the only song that gets close to good is the opening song, Sweet Haven).

 Robert Altman directs, but he is a poor fit. One of his trademarks is overlapping or mumbled dialogue, and most of the characters here mumble their lines. Giuseppe Rotunno (known for his camerawork on Fellini Satyricon, All That Jazz, Adventures of Baron Munchausen, and the Sabrina remake. He was one of Frederico Fellini's favorite cameramen) was in charge of cinematography. In Popeye though, he just basically lets the camera roll. There is nothing noteworthy about the camerawork here, as it feels lazy and uninspired.

The film also doesn't have much of a plot (Popeye rows his way to Sweet Haven in search of his long-lost Pappy. While there comes into possession of Sweet Pea, a Baby who can predict the future, falls for Olive Oyl, and makes enemies with Olive's suitor Bluto). Popeye acts as an origin story for our beloved Sailor Man, but the film isn't all that compelling or engaging. That said, you can tell passion went into making this film. It's biggest problems are all the mumbling (which works in the Popeye cartoons, but doesn't here), the uninspired and basic songs, and some moments of wackiness that are played up too much.

I wouldn't say Popeye is painful. It is around 2 hours long, and doesn't move too quickly, so I could understand complaints that it's slow or boring, but I would argue that it's not bad. It's messy, confused, chaotic, and misguided, but it's heart is in the right place and it's clearly trying. When all is said and done, Popeye makes for an interesting watch and remains a memorable flop.

FUN FACT: Popeye actually yells "Shit!" in one scene.

2.5 Stars