Mel Brooks' tricky balancing act

Mel Brooks went from prince to pauper in “Life Stinks”, a comedy that doesn’t have the confidence of a lot of other Brooks projects, but that may be because it’s also trying to be his most socially conscious film since “Blazing Saddles”. Centered around the homeless crisis in the U.S., Brooks meant it as an eye opener for people who don’t think twice about the homeless, as well as a comedy with Brooks’ style gags.

He is Goddard Bolt, an absurdly rich man who usually doesn’t give the slum his limo drives through a second thought on the way to his skyscraper office building. He actually has a gentrification plan for the whole neighborhood but first he must wrestle co-ownership from fellow capitalist Crasswell (Jeffrey Tambor), who grew up in the slum and became a bootstrap billionaire, unlike silver-spoon Bolt. A bet is proposed. If Bolt can survive a month in the slum without his money and resources, Crasswell will give up his share.

It’s no surprise Brooks’ is at his funniest when meanest. As his lawyers read off a list of how his business affairs are displacing people, Bolt gives off nothing but callous shrugs. When Crasswell calls him out on his upbringing, Bolt fires back with the popular Trumpian retort, “My father only lent me 5 million. It’s nothing.” The arc of the story soon gets predictable, but Brooks’ one-liners remain the film’s advantage.

Once on the street, Brooks’ tries to make some serious contentions with a mixed bag of laughs. It’s hard to be homeless, that’s obvious. But it’s also hard to imagine being homeless; not having the resources to pull yourself back up, pretty much being looked on as a non-entity in society, and spending most of your energy just trying to hold onto what sanity and possessions one has left.
It’s an interesting avenue for comedy and Brooks’ tries, and at times even gets poignant with it. Scenes where he washes windshields and dances for coins are hilarious, scenes where he tries to make mental illness and street violence seem funny are off-key, but ones like the death of a character and people’s shrug-like reaction to it come with surprising sincerity.

One of the better performances here comes from Lesley Ann Warren, playing Molly, one of the wacky trio of homeless friends Bolt meets during his journey. She’s suffered a nervous breakdown after her marriage and never recovered, now in such a dark space that she rains on most people’s parades (Wanna know what dying peacefully in your sleep looks like to her?) and comes from a place of hopelessness and depression.

It’s to Brooks’ credit again that he tries to balance dark material with some fantasy romance, as the two take part in a dance sequence in an old dilapidated factory inspired by one of those old musicals. He also goes the traditional Vaudeville route in certain cases, as well as slapstick and dick jokes. It’s a weird combination of social satire and Brooks’ stuff and the transitions between the two are never very seamless but it’s inoffensive and charming in a way, one of the few times Brooks tried to lead more with his heart than a funny bone.

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