Richard Benjamin
From AwardAnnals
Information about the director.
Works
- 2 works
- Show titles only
Richard Benjamin
The title pretty much says it all, folks: A beauteous E.T. cozies up to an eccentric scientist (a disarmingly straight Dan Ackroyd) in an attempt to save her dying planet and falls in love in the process. Much wackiness ensues. Art it ain’t, but this likably lightweight film does deliver the laughs, with assured leading performances (for once, Kim Basinger’s formica loveliness is utilized as an effective comedic asset), a surprisingly bawdy sense of humor, and a riotous supporting turn by a then dewy-fresh Jon Lovitz. Good, undemanding fun. —Andrew Wright
Richard Benjamin
This love letter to the golden days of live television in the 1950s is a thinly veiled depiction of Your Show of Shows, the groundbreaking comedy show that starred Sid Caesar. The story, set in 1954, focuses on one of the writers for the show (Mark Linn-Baker), who is given the task of chaperoning that week’s guest star, a famously ill-behaved movie star named Alan Swann. He’s based on Errol Flynn and played with Oscar-nominated glee by Peter O’Toole. He also happens to be the writer’s movie hero, but proves to be a hilariously drunken party animal, one…
