Jack Cosmo (Joe Piscopo) is an award-winning musical theater director and choreographer who is selling off his awards to pay off his gambling debts. The mob boss Jack owes money to is Big Mike (Paul Sorvino) finds out whom he is and reveals that he’s Cosmo’s biggest fan. Big Mike calls off the debt, but demands Cosmo create a show based on his idea for a show about a “candy-holic” titled How Sweet It Is. Oh, and he wants it done for his birthday in three weeks and cast with other people who owe him money, including a junkie who auditions with a charming song titled “Give Me Fifty Bucks So I Can Buy Crack.” At the same time, an undercover FBI agent named Ethan (Eric Bergen) with a musical theater background infiltrates the production in order to create a setup to bring down Big Mike — but he doesn’t count on falling in love with Jack’s estranged daughter Sarah (Erika Christensen).
There’s certainly nothing particularly “bad” about How Sweet It Is. It is a well-made film with some very funny moments and the musical sequences in particular are terrifically shot. But at its core its a pale imitation of the great musicals it imitates, and it’s full of goofy “wiseguy” jokes that have been done to death — many in Piscopo’s Saturday Night Live skits and previous comedies. The highlight of the film is composer Matt Dahan‘s songs, much of which are memorable despite sometimes inane lyrics. It’s too bad there isn’t a better written story to hold it all together besides “the misfits work together to pull off an impossible show,” not unlike Hamlet 2 and other “misfit musicals.”
Director/co-writer Brian Herzlinger debuted with the “stalkumentry” My Date With Drew, but none of his subsequent narrative films have received much of a release. However, like How Sweet It Is all of Herzlinger’s narrative films feature recognizable casts. I’m not sure how he manages to get them together on projects that don’t have particularly large budgets. In fact, it’s sort of a shame that such a solid cast is left adrift in this movie without good material to save them. In particular, Piscopo is really trying in a role that is completely out of his wheelhouse while, on the other end of the spectrum, Broadway veteran Bergen is a perfect choice for a role that is in his. They deserve a lot of credit to keep this moving.
Again, there’s nothing about How Sweet It Is that makes watching it a negative experience, but I don’t think it will end up having many fans because everyone seems to be just doing their job — nobody appears to be having fun. That’s an awful observation for a musical comedy film, but the truth isn’t sweeter than the candy-coated musical numbers.
Rating: A fairly dull musical with great songs despite its poorly written story (4.5/10).
How Sweet It Is opens in New York City and Los Angeles on May 10.
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