Biloxi Blues | Stanley Kaufmann on Films: Variously Clever
Stanley Kaufmann discusses the film version of Neil Simon's play Biloxi Blues, praising its director, Mike Nichols, for his refreshing take on familiar scenes and its principal actors for the 'delight' they bring to their roles.
One of America's premier comic talents is on glittering display in Biloxi Blues, a craftsman whose skill approaches the level of serious work as long as he sticks to lightweight work. I mean, of course, Mike Nichols. I first saw his directing in the Broadway production of Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park (1963), a soufflé in the hands of a new, masterly pastry chef. Since then, in more Simon pieces and in other plays—excepting a misguided venture into Chekhov—Nichols has invariably evoked the best in his actors and has been subtly ingenious with rhythm, timing,...
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