Never a Dull Moment (1968)

What a waste of my time!!!

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

The only reason I saw this film is because Edward G. Robinson was in it. However, had I known that it was actually a dopey Disney film, I probably would have skipped it. While the studio today is well-respected, in the late 60s and 70s their output was, to put it charitably, crap.The film begins with Dick Van Dyke playing a character actor who has played, among other things, a lot of gangster roles in movies and TV. However, he's not a particularly famous actor, so when he's mistaken as a REAL gangster he's stuck. They expect him to kill security guards and help them in an art heist--and he just wants to run away and save himself. Can he somehow get out of this alive? While the premise is pretty cute, the execution of the film was pretty bad. Too many broadly acted scenes (like Van Dyke's VERY exaggerated drunk act) really brought the film to a grinding halt--as did the terribly slapsticky and ridiculous ending. Even the kids must have groaned at this one! A total waste of talent and a film I had a hard time finishing.

This movie, starring the gifted actor, Dick Van Dyke, is an unsullied comedy full of humor and plot. Creative scenes flow in this film with a unique twist on classic situations. Though it is an older film, it surpasses most films hitting theaters today in acting and storyline. Jack displays courage and wit without losing the "just the average guy" way about him. Sincere facial expressions by Dick Van Dyke, and strong comedic timing sell this story from beginning to end. You will finish this movie feeling like you have stepped into "Jack's" shoes and gone on this escapade with him. With a touch of action, romance, suspense, and a delightful twist, this comedy is well worth your time.

The title is quite true. There is never a dull 'moment' in this film, simply because the entire movie consists of 100 dull minutes. Van Dyke plays a bit-part actor who becomes entangled with gangster/mob type caricatures stealing a valuable painting, and other such dross. (On that note the film is about as lacklustre as the 1965 co-production 'Theft Of The Mona Lisa'). The director seems to have been offered an entirely different script to the one offering the audience alleged 'comedy', which is regrettably confined to Van Dyke's "unique" brand of muggery (eg Lt Robinson Crusoe, 1966). Ed G Robinsons presence is not even worth mentioning, in the hope that it can be overlooked in summation of his career's overall contribution to American movie history and development. An inept, feeble-minded vomition of the sort of pap that elucidates any mystery surrounding why such a tycoon as Walt D should have ended up bankrupt.

After several years of phenomenal TV success counterbalanced with a movie career that ranged from good ("Bye Bye Birdie" "Mary Poppins") to so-so ("Fitzwilly") to Gawd-awful ("Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N."), Dick Van Dyke went back to Disney for the third time on four years for "Never a Dull Moment," with results that could best be described as mixed.Now, whenever Hollywood decides to use this all-purpose title, as it had at least four times before, beware, as the film is generally duller that usual. "Never a Dull Moment," lives up to its title, thanks primarily to Van Dyke and a solid supporting cast. Edward G. Robinson, Dorothy Provine (just before her simultaneous retirement and marriage), Henry Silva, Tony Bill, Jack Elam, and Slim Pickens all do as well in their roles as the script permits.And there's the rub. A.J. Crothers, although the Disney people used him several times, was never one of the more inspired writers of comedy, and his films with Disney suffer for it. The cast and director Jerry Paris, a Van Dyke Show veteran on both sides of the camera, give it their best, but a limp script keeps undoing all their efforts.In short, you, and Van Dyke, could worse than "Never a Dull Moment," but you could do a whole lot better, too.