It’s part of Larry David’s self-deprecation routine to diss his own work; the comic creative has expressed his dissatisfaction with his 1998 directorial debut in a number of ways. Coming between hit comedy Seinfeld and David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, it’s a notable blot of his copy-book, a comedy pretty much pulled from release due to adverse audience reaction. And it’s not hard to see why; perhaps over-confidence is the reason that David decided to push the boat out, but this mean-spirited collection of situational gags about money, hospitals, accidental operations, auto-fellatio and funerals narrowcasts to a specific audience keen to engage with the darker side of life. Once you’ve captured a demographic of 76 million viewers, there’s only one way to go, and Sour Grapes at least shakes off the charming insouciance of Seinfeld for good; it’s easy to see how preview and test audiences must have been appalled by the content of this film.
My recollection is that Sour Grapes was pulled in the UK with a sudden needle-scratch after being heavily trailered; the previews made a decent case, focusing on the opening gag. Two cousins, doctor Evan (Steven Weber) and show-designer Ritchie (Craig Bierko) are down on their luck on a Vegas trip until Evan lends Ritchie a couple of quarters for a fruit-machine which pays out nearly half a million dollars, money which Ritchie refuses to split. That might be enough for a sitcom half-hour, but David doubles down on venality; Evan gets some kind of revenge by misusing his position as a medic and telling Ritchie he has a fatal illness, but the chaos caused leads Evan to make some critical mistakes while operating on his patients, specifically a famous sitcom star whom he accidentally castrates…
Soup Grapes has an icy reserve that’s almost unique. There’s very few US studio comedies without any visual sight gags, and which don’t reply on familiar names and faces; a few Seinfeld cast members (library cop Bookman / Phillip Baker Hall) do pop up on the side-lines. Instead, David over-plays his hand, with too much dark quirk, far too many silly incidents, and not enough time for any of it to land; a running gag about the homeless is regrettable, even within the bounds of bad taste. There’s an extended riff on the success and relative blandness of Friends which feels too much like sour grapes on David’s part, suggesting that the vengeful behaviour featured here was very much in tune with the director’s world-view at the time.
All that said, Sour Grapes deserves its growing cult reputation; it’s an ambitious, fearless film that aims squarely at the idea of money as a corrosive moral influence. David seems like someone who would be hard work to share a winning ticket with; this really isn’t Seinfeld da Movie, but pushes things further and seeks to find a sweet spot in uncharted areas of humour that few would seek to explore. David would refine this strategy via the far superior pratfalls of Curb Your Enthusiasm, but this shonky prototype is worth a look for fans of his unique brand of humour.
How have I not seen this film. Even if it isn’t great after the review and trailer I’m still curious about Larry David’s first film
I was curious too, and it was worth a look for fans, even if it’s a messy affair.
Never heard of this one. You’ve out-Davided me, but big fan of his biting sense of humour so could well be tempted.
Between Seinfeld and Curb, there’s not much David-led activity, so Sour Grapes is of interest. While not a great film, it’s got a certain comic verve that marks it out as more than just a comedy. But while individual gags might miss the target on tv, here, David hits more than a few bumps, and it’s easy to see what put people off…
Nope.
Not even going to consider it. The real downfall though, as far as I can tell, is that there’s a distinct lack of Michael Caine.
He’s not even mentioned in this, so what’s the point? Don’t worry, I’ve got two massive slabs of classic Caine on the launchpad, the choicest cuts!
The point is that if there had been some Caine, I might have been Able to watch this movie without murdering anyone.
Looking forward to the slabs of choice cut. I’ll take mine well done, with onions.
Thanks for that pun, truly Biblical!
Worry not, I’ll give you a night of Michael Caine like you won’t remember!
It’s a good morning, even with the abominable time change having occurred.
Will I remember the onions?
A seismic time change has occurred? What year is it? Who is the current president? Back to the Delorean, there’s still time !
The east coast of the United States has now entered Daylight Savings Time. One of the worst things to occur, in my opinion, since the invention of work.
I’m not sure even a Delorean can save us now.
Didn’t like Seinfeld after the first watch of it, never went back. So wouldn’t want to see this. Also it would have been better if he’d castrated Ritchie. Nope.
Seinfeld is quite something when you get the hang of it, wasn’t impressed initially….
I’ll take your word for it, not much into comedy (I might have said that before) and don’t watch TV unless it’s a documentary or a cool series.
I get all the comedy I need from leaving erroneous comments on Alex’s blog…
I figured that!
Just leave a note praising the performance of someone not in the film and watch his mind explode…
You are a cruel, cruel man.
Yup
That really did mess me up for a bit.
I’ll do it again.
Wow does that trailer ever look like Seinfeld. Even the way the lines are being delivered.
You could remake this with the characters from Seinfeld and it would probably help. There’s a few scenes that need cut, but the central idea could have been a great Seinfeld finale. But if the Seinfeld peeps were charming with a nihilistic undercurrent, this one skips the charm…
I got that sort of development from Seinfeld to Curb Your Enthusiasm. Sort of challenging the audience. Still think I’ll skip this though.
It’s not an easy recommend….the use of classical music, the doubling down on discomfort, it’s clear Curb was waiting to break out….