Cracking Up

source: Cracking Up

Smorgasbord (The Movie)

Cracking Up, also known as Smorgasbord, is a Jerry Lewis Production. Written, directed, and starring Jerry Lewis. with some fun co-stars: Sammy Davis, Milton Berle, Herb Edelman (he was Stanley, How Could You? on Golden Girls) and more. Dick Butkus (chicago bears). Jerry plays numerous characters, and spends the first ten minutes trying to off himself. so he visits his psychiatrist (Edelman), and the events leading up to now are shown in flashback. all starring ....Jerry Lewis. sight gags, much twisting and turning a clever phrase, and even a couple dirty jokes where you really have to pay attention to catch them. his visit to the doc seems to be an excuse to staple all these vaudeville - style vignettes together. Dingle syndrome. Carper's Waindowner Leak. HAH! some of the gags work, some don't. like every jerry lewis film. co-written with Bill Richmond. They made tons of stuff together.

Warren Nefron (Jerry Lewis) struggles to kill himself. After many failures, he goes to a psychiatrist. The start is completely ridiculous but I was with it. I'm going with it hoping for more craziness. Then it turns into some sort of vignette show. It serves no purpose to go back into history. The psychiatrist don't add that much. Warren should be trying to kill himself in more and more ridiculous ways. The joke should be him failing and causing mayhem to everybody else. The movie introduces something and turns it into a mess. It's a series of wacky skits that don't really connect to each other or with the audience.

Jerry Lewis is hilariously amazing. He is truly a comic genius. He writes hilarious movies and executes them so well and this is no exception. This is a great movie A GREAT MOVIE ONE OF JERRY'S OVERLOOKED GEMS IS CORRECT!!!!!!!!! If Jerry reads this I just have to say, you are the best at slapstick, and you are hilarious the most talented comedian to ever live, but I have a feeling there is this one kid who is coming up who will become the greatest, all because of ur teaching through ur films and colgate comedy hours.

I have seen many funny movies come and go, but I have yet to see a movie as funny as this one! My brother and I saw this movie on cable, back in 1983 when i was 13 years old, and we were literally on the floor "cracking up"!! It really lives up to its title!! Jerry Lewis was at his very best! Thumbs wayyyyy up!!

Cracking Up is one of my favorite movies.....OK, I might have a weird sense of humor... but the first time I saw it, I laughed so hard my side hurt. I bought the movie, and occasionally get it out and watch it again just to get a good laugh. several parts I like are the Restaurant scene, the waitress when she takes his order, it's hysterical. I'd love to do that to someone sometime. I also love the scene with the guru on the operating table, so funny. And the airplane scene..... "chef surprise....you'll love it" it makes me laugh just writing this. If you haven't seen this movie, get your hands on a copy and watch it.

This movie was one of Jerry Lewis's best in my opinion. I really think he is a good actor, director, writer, etc. and this movie definitely showed it. Lewis played a troubled man seemed to be cursed with bad luck. He showed off his talent by playing multiple characters, expressing the goofs that have happened during the course of his life. Must see this movie, it was awesome!

The quality of Jerry's films has been somewhat erratic (some might consider this an understatement), some great, some awful. By 1983, when Jerry made this movie, the last film he directed, many people had written him off, I think. In any event, the movie escaped my attention when it came out. I came across it in a movie rental store when I needed a number of movies to get me through a post-operation recovery when I was stuck at home sometime in early '90s. I put it into the VCR and proceeded to be amazed. I still have vivid memories of some of the surreal sets and sketches. I consider this film to be Jerry's bid to rival the best of Peter Sellers.

Jerry Lewis has always been one of the most awesomely gifted comedians in the business. He can make you laugh so hard, your ribs hurt. He can also bore (and embarrass) the snot out of you. This movie is, truthfully, uneven. The first ten minutes, as the poor schnook tries merely to sit down in a doctor's office, are brilliant, screamingly funny. Other bits (there really isn't much of a plot) traverse a range from lying there like iron ingots to surreally jaw-dropping. The French aren't necessarily crazy. The highs in this movie soar, the lows strain to reach the curb. Welcome to a Jerry Lewis movie. If you can't handle that, this isn't for you.