The Horse's Mouth
Director: Ronald Neame
Year Released: 1958
Rating: 1.5
Glorified, over-rated vanity picture for Alec Guinness, who not only stars in it, but also wrote all of his endlessly witty one-liners. He plays a tormented genius painter - hell, what painter in the movies hasn't been depicted as either a genius or tormented or both? - who is low on money and constantly leeches off the people around him. Guinness, in an attempt to depict unwieldy, uncompromising "brilliance," chews up the scenery the way Jerry Lewis would, yelling, crawling around, sporting the most wretched frog voice. Watch as he grows irate and throws things! Gasp as he destroys his own works! Laugh as he belittles everyone with a snappy comment! Yawn as the picture trudges along, and marvel at its attempt at poetic clarity in the last five minutes.
