One Paragraph Movie Review: Duck Soup

One hundred and twenty-first film: The Marx Brothers’ Duck Soup. Aaaand I’m exhausted. Thankfully this movie runs for just over an hour, because the charm of slapstick this heavy-handed would, I presume, wear thin if it ran for much longer. I shamefully admit that this is the first Marx Brothers movie I’ve ever seen, so I’m extremely relieved to have enjoyed it. I laughed properly at most of the wordplay, beamed gleefully at the mirror gag, tilted my head like a moderately bewildered kelpie at the musical numbers and tolerated the lemonade vendor bit. Ostensibly about politics and war, but realistically about some funny blokes trying to cram as many gags as possible into a loosely-grasped theme, I concentrated on the plot at first but then just let the hectic mess into my eyes however it pleased. And when all is said and done: I get it. I’m in. I see why so many funny people like the Marx Brothers. This movie is utterly insane. Just under four burning peanut cart hats out of five.