On the one hand, I'm a fan of Linda Hayden and other films that she made early in her career. On the other hand, one of my encounters with Hayden, and my first with Robin Askwith, was in the ill-advised 'Queen Kong' that seemed promising in its first minutes then fell terribly flat. On the other other hand, comedies are very hit-or-miss in the first place, and sex comedies, with their abject puerility and boorishness, are among the least appealing varieties. Yet as I'll watch almost anything and everything, it only seemed fair to try my hand at 'Confessions of a window cleaner.' I'll say this, one doesn't need to know anything about British TV sitcoms in the 70s to quickly gain a sense that this is built with a mind for strong, almost overwhelming kinship with its small screen brethren. I'll also say this, the emphasis on nudity and sex from the very first minutes is immediately, aggravatingly tiresome, pretty much exactly as juvenile and dull as I assumed. I'm no prude, and it's not that this completely fails to earn any laughs - but it fails to far too severe an extent. Too much more than not, I find it difficult to imagine how this could be meaningfully entertaining for anyone aside from twelve-year olds who excitably giggle at the transgression of finding their first adult magazine.
This does manage to be enjoyable in its strains of humor that don't rely strictly on anatomy and/or intercourse. While the situational comedy is exhausting and overbearing at times, some of it elicits the desired reaction; we also get some slight cleverness in various gags or slapstick, in some dialogue, and in the dynamics between characters. The key word remains "some," however; wherever the writing credit truly belongs, there's not so much wit or vitality in these ninety minutes as to draw out more than a collective handful of laughs or smiles. Not to belabor the point, but that kinship with TV sitcoms doesn't really do the picture any favors. Situational comedy is the backbone of many titles, but the sensibilities thereof in television tend to be of a lighter, blander, staler sort that are even more patchy and inconsistent than in cinema, and whatever the region that defines one's frame of reference, I don't think there's any arguing that this flick takes its cues from the telly as much as the fantasies of school boys who don't actually know what sex entails. All this is to say, 'Confessions of a window cleaner' just isn't all that fun.
The writing generally, and the humor specifically, are genuinely at their best and smartest where they shift away from sheer bawdiness; the greater the shift, the greater the result. In other ways, at least, this is reasonably well made, if not admirably. Even under these circumstances Hayden is charming and gives a fine performance; even under these circumstances, Askwith makes a considerably better impression here than he did in 'Queen Kong.' One can't fault the cast at all for fully embracing the spirit of the production. While director Val Guest is no help in providing the movie with an appropriate or necessary level of energy, he does well enough in putting scenes together. From fundamentals like camerawork and editing, to minutiae like costume design, hair, and makeup, this is ably made. It's also surely longer than it should have been; by the time it was only half over I felt like I should've been almost done altogether. And that unseemly length can be wholly attributed to how unfunny this tends to be even from the moment it begins. By no means is this all bad, yet the fact of the matter is that it leaves me all too nonplussed. Factor in some odds and ends that straight up haven't aged well decades later, and any recommendation is a very soft one.
I don't absolutely dislike this. I just don't think it's nearly good enough to bother with, save perhaps unless one is a major fan of someone involved. I'm glad for those who get more out of 'Confessions of a window cleaner' than I do, yet there are far better ways to spend one's time, so there's just not much cause to give this a look. Oh well.
This does manage to be enjoyable in its strains of humor that don't rely strictly on anatomy and/or intercourse. While the situational comedy is exhausting and overbearing at times, some of it elicits the desired reaction; we also get some slight cleverness in various gags or slapstick, in some dialogue, and in the dynamics between characters. The key word remains "some," however; wherever the writing credit truly belongs, there's not so much wit or vitality in these ninety minutes as to draw out more than a collective handful of laughs or smiles. Not to belabor the point, but that kinship with TV sitcoms doesn't really do the picture any favors. Situational comedy is the backbone of many titles, but the sensibilities thereof in television tend to be of a lighter, blander, staler sort that are even more patchy and inconsistent than in cinema, and whatever the region that defines one's frame of reference, I don't think there's any arguing that this flick takes its cues from the telly as much as the fantasies of school boys who don't actually know what sex entails. All this is to say, 'Confessions of a window cleaner' just isn't all that fun.
The writing generally, and the humor specifically, are genuinely at their best and smartest where they shift away from sheer bawdiness; the greater the shift, the greater the result. In other ways, at least, this is reasonably well made, if not admirably. Even under these circumstances Hayden is charming and gives a fine performance; even under these circumstances, Askwith makes a considerably better impression here than he did in 'Queen Kong.' One can't fault the cast at all for fully embracing the spirit of the production. While director Val Guest is no help in providing the movie with an appropriate or necessary level of energy, he does well enough in putting scenes together. From fundamentals like camerawork and editing, to minutiae like costume design, hair, and makeup, this is ably made. It's also surely longer than it should have been; by the time it was only half over I felt like I should've been almost done altogether. And that unseemly length can be wholly attributed to how unfunny this tends to be even from the moment it begins. By no means is this all bad, yet the fact of the matter is that it leaves me all too nonplussed. Factor in some odds and ends that straight up haven't aged well decades later, and any recommendation is a very soft one.
I don't absolutely dislike this. I just don't think it's nearly good enough to bother with, save perhaps unless one is a major fan of someone involved. I'm glad for those who get more out of 'Confessions of a window cleaner' than I do, yet there are far better ways to spend one's time, so there's just not much cause to give this a look. Oh well.