Lookwell (1991)

Wonderful character development!

Expected more

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

I located and watched this show because I'm a fan of Adam West's Batman, Conan O'Brien and Robert Smigel. Now that I've seen it, I can understand why people tend to either love it or hate it.The premise is great, Adam West is great, and the Lookwell character is hilariously annoying and genuinely noble at the same time.The clash between the luxury show business side of Los Angeles and the regular, scruffy side is great, too.The actors seem to be well cast, but one issue is that, in some cases, they do stage-y, sketch comedy style acting instead of regular TV show acting.I think a bigger problem is that the script isn't structured all that well. There are too many different characters who get about the same amount of screen time, and suspense doesn't build the way it should.It looks as if neither this show nor Andy Barker, PI has a story editor. It seems to me that a good, experienced story editor would have ideas for ways to make shows like these hold together better.

You would not have thought it possible for a comedy to have every joke it makes fall flat on its face. Lookwell is funny in the same way a really drunk guy who can't walk or speak properly but is trying really hard to do both is funny. It is indeed laughable, but only in its complete ineptitude, its remarkable ability to fail so thoroughly and consistently on every level.My only possibly guess as to why so many people say they like this film is that they are the sort who, when seeing a comedian bomb horribly and terribly at a comedy club to the point of being booed off the stage, find this incredibly amusing. Or perhaps imagine this: imagine a comedian so unfunny that people cannot grasp the depths of his unfunny, and therefore convince themselves that he is must be intentionally trying to lampoon the whole concept of humor, although this is not the case.Here's food for thought: Now everyone I know who has seen this video has a new word--Lookwell, v. To lookwell is to try really hard to be funny and to fail.

Sure, it's not for everyone. It probably won't make an impact on anyone that never sat through hours of Banacek, Mannix, Cannon, Rockford Files, Magnum PI, or the 30 or so "Quinn-Martin" productions mentioned in the pilot.The deadpan delivery of Adam West as the likable, sad, washed-up actor is incredible. Why was he never given a chance after Batman? His portrayal of a man tempered by constant rejection, yet bravely holding on to dignity and hope that the next audition brings, is fascinating. Arthur Miller could not have done it better. Did I mention he's funny as hell, too? In today's terms, that character's name is Johnny Drama, instead of Lookwell.

I finally just saw Lookwell after years of hearing about how brilliant and funny it is.It's simply neither. It is mildly amusing, and because it is 22 minutes it is bearable, but that's it. I really don't understand what all the hype is about. Maybe because it is so obscure, people feel like they've stumbled onto a hidden gem? Because of Adam West? O'Brien and Smigel? It's just not very funny.That is all I had to say but not this web page is saying I do not meet the minimum number of lines of text. So I am writing this. I'd recommend you ignore this text. Why would a comment area want users to have a minimum number of lines of text?It's as idiotic as Lookwell.