I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge that Steve Martin has aged gracefully compared to Chevy Chase.When my friend told me the plot to this movie, I admit I cringed a little bit, but I was informed that it shockingly aged well (at least in their memory). I was shocked to see how much of this did age well despite its plot. This could have leaned too heavily into race humor (more often than not, it feels off), but it hardly ever does. Navin's family is a fun character who doesn't feel like a stereotype, and Navin seems just to be socially awkward as opposed to somebody raised in a racist's idea of a black household.
Steve Martin is great in this, delivering some quotable lines mixed with great physicality. The people around him deliver fun performances, too, creating memorable characters that stand apart. There are some great moments of direction here, too, from the late Carl Reiner. There is fun editing, blocking, and framing that adds potency to the comedy.
While much of the coemdy ahs aged gracefully, it does fall into areas that dilute the comedy for me. Woman-on-man assault humor has always fascinated me, because it always destroys the humor of a scene. Some of the pacing doesn't work for me, and much of the movie doesn't have too much of a specific focus. This movie was thoroughly entertaining, consistently hysterical, and a vehicle for a great Steve Martin performance.
