Blu-ray Review: Start the Revolution Without Me [Warner Archive]

Synopsis: Produced and directed by comedy veteran Bud Yorkin, Start the Revolution Without Me broke ground for a comedy revolution. It takes the tumultuous "let-them-eat-cake" days of the French Revolution and gives everyone a figurative pie in the face. The story begins when two sets of identical twins—one pair of bumbling peasants (Gene Wilder and Donald Sutherland) and one pair of arrogant aristocrats (also Wilder and Sutherland)—are separated at birth. Decades later, on the bloody eve of the French Revolution, a case of mistaken identity tosses the wrong brothers into the wrong lives. As the guillotine looms and the palace of Versailles descends into absolute chaos, these four unlikely heroes must navigate royal trysts, deadly duels, and a plot to overthrow King Louis XVI.

Main Feature: Let's start wit this: Start the Revolution Without Me has been given a wonderful restored presentation on this Warner Archive disc. The problem is the film is still not one that fully clicks. Wilder is legendary no matter what, with this film at the true peak of his comedy power and genius. Sutherland equally a star of the 1970s and a magnet of comedic wit and hilarity (his Oddball in Kelly's Heroes is exactly that, and is one of the greatest characters in all of cinema--I will die on that hill). he concept and melding of them both just doesn't work. Funny bits are few and far between, but it is still a film I can enjoy from now and then.

Bonus Features: The ho-hum Warner Bros cartoons and film's theatrical trailer in SD are lackluster, made up by the 2003 DVD carryover commentary track with Wilder, and Yorkin.

Final Call: Start the Revolution Without Me is a mediocre showcase of two revolutionary funny men of the 70s, with cinephiles appreciating this restorative release more than anything. 

Grade: C+