The Impostors

Arthur and Maurice are two actors who cannot get work. To keep from starving they rehearse in the street, stage scenes in a pastry shop, and constantly get into trouble. After an argument with a famous actor, they stow away on an ocean liner while fleeing the police. On board there is a murder plot, a fake count, an adventure on deck, and nowhere to hide. Stanley Tucci wrote and directed and played Maurice; it was his second film, two years after Big Night. The narrative deliberately imitates 1930s studio comedy and silent slapstick: doors, disguises, misunderstandings, and chases down narrow corridors. Oliver Platt plays Arthur, and the pairing carries the film. The cast is full of familiar character actors. Who it's for: Anyone drawn to classic slapstick, comic double acts, and low-tempo comedy. Who it's not for: The humour is insistently old-fashioned and the shipboard subplots scatter. Viewers expecting Tucci's first film will find a completely different register.