My Favorite Year (1982) **** (out of 4) Washed up actor Alan Swann (Peter O'Toole) is given the chance to appear on a television show and the job of keeping up with him goes to young fan Benjy Stone (Mark Linn-Baker) who soon realizes that the former star and alcohol can lead to problems. I shall admit right at the start that I absolutely loved every single second of this movie. As a comedy this thing is pretty flawless as it keeps you laughing from start to finish thanks to one of the best screenplays from the era and not to mention the wonderful performances by everyone in the cast. The story is quite simple and there are certainly a few areas where the script appears to be talking about the real O'Toole but man, what a tremendous performance he gives. If anyone you know doubts that O'Toole was one of the greatest actors in the history of cinema then they just need to watch this film to see comedy done to perfection. I was really shocked at how wonderful O'Toole was at the humor but his comic timing can match up against the geniuses of the genre and the way he turns on the charm is just pure delight. I really mean it when I say that the performance is flawless and even with the one tender moment at the end, the actor is so terrific that you can't take your eyes off of him. Linn-Baker is also very good in the supporting role and we get strong performances from the entire cast including Joseph Bologna, Bill Macy, Jessica Harper and even Cameron Mitchell. The screenplay just offers up so many terrific lines that it's hard to imagine one film containing so many. I honestly think there were at least thirty quotable lines and all of them just constantly had you laughing. Some of them are quite clever while some of them have O'Toole just winking at you about his own reputation. MY FAVORITE YEAR is without question one of the best comedies of its type and it's also a loving tribute to the live television shows of the 1950's. There's no question that the film is a comic masterpiece but it also has a heart that's hard to match.

Although Peter O'Toole is unquestionably the star of "My Favorite Year" in the part of an aging film star, whose major preoccupations are having sex with beautiful young women and getting roaring drunk, he's not the only actor to acquit himself well in this film. Joseph Bologna as King Kaiser, a TV comedian, imitates Sid Caesar with considerable success, Mark Linn-Baker is very good as a junior writer on the show assigned to make sure that Alan Swann (O'Toole's character modeled on Errol Flynn) is actually on hand when the show is broadcast, and Jessica Baker is charming as the young writer's love interest. But O'Toole dominates the comedy just as he dominated his best known dramatic films, and he is hilarious, reminding us that his star, when at its brightest, shown brilliantly not alone because he was physically beautiful but because the guy could really act. His imitation of a drunk is priceless, even though, in fact, O'Toole unfortunately had a good deal of experience to go with his acting talent on this particular matter.

Yep - and one of My Favorite Comedies too, that seems to get better and better each time I catch it! That title year is 1954 and young TV comedy show writer (Linn-Baker) gets assigned as the chaperon to former, swinging, - and heavily drinking - swashbuckler movie star on the downfall (O'Toole) for one wild weekend in NYC. Loving, glorious comedy nostalgia that is both a dreamy-eyed glance at old-time movie matinées & stardom as well as a smashingly production-detailed ode to those seemingly innocent, care-free days of the 1950s and its dawn of television.Bullet-paced and aloof like a sitcom (or a Marx brothers movie), with nonstop parade of quotable lines and caricature-like characters that makes it ideal for multiple viewing... and a mystery why it seems SO overlooked and not rightly revered as one of the best comedies of the 1980s. The star of O'Toole shines at its brightest, but down to the smallest role, it's cast to utter completion.... which makes me ask: what ever happened to Mark Linn-Baker and Joseph Bologna?8 out of 10 from Ozjeppe

Someone recommended this to me recently and given that he watches a lot of movies from a good spread of time and genres and that I'd never heard of it, I decided to give it a try. The plot is told from the point of view of young television writer Benjy Stone who has been charged with keeping the guest star of a live Saturday night television show in line through rehearsals and onto the show itself. This is not easy task given that the guest is none other than the Errol-Flynn-esquire Alan Swann, the legendary lothario and drinker. The narrative charts their escapades over the week and sees them learn lessons from one another (to a point).I say "to a point" because the plot is not that strong when you go much below the superficial and indeed there isn't the action/reaction that I expected from the character dynamics – or at least it is not that strong on the page. This is a bit of a weakness in the film – not that I wanted it to be serious or insightful but more that I felt it could have done with being a little sharper and more structured in regards its characters. That said, what it leaves is a rather superficial and frothy film and this is in no way a totally bad thing because it plays into this very well. The word of the day for me was "whimsy" with this – because it seems to have been founded on a bed of nostalgia for a particular place and time that may not even have existed. Given that nostalgia (as opposed to reality) is the foundation, it was wise to build with a whimsical comedic approach because the two things compliment each other well as the various backstage shenanigans and characters get on. It is an odd coincidence that this all occurs in 30 Rockefeller Plaza because the exaggerated antics and 100% comedic characters did very much put me in mind of 30 Rock – not as funny perhaps but the base elements were very similar.It is a comedy though and, while I was not laughing out loud very often, I did have several good laughs and otherwise found myself quite charmed by the amusing material. There are some great lines but there are also plenty of funny little characters around the edges to provide chuckles and feed into the overall comedy (for example the throwaway creation of Rookie Carroca, which is odd but yet very funny). As in 30 Rock today, the cast here are a massive part of making the comedy work and in particular carrying off the whimsy and silliness so that it remains charming and does not become stupid or grating. Linn-Baker is the narrative-device and as such he is pretty good, doing enough so that we like him and care a bit in regards his character's romantic ambitions but never pushing himself forward so that he challenges the main show in town – which is O'Toole. With his wonderful swagger and droll delivery of his lines, O'Toole nails his comedy character perfectly and is very funny doing it (his finest moment being the "for ladies only" exchange). OK at times the material lets him down (the more "serious" character moments towards the end jar a little in contrast with the rest of his performance) but otherwise he is very good. Harper is cute and works well with both men, while Bologna is a blast from the past that is simple but effective while the rest of the support cast has plenty of recognisable faces doing great little comic characters (Kazan, Hoffman, De Salvo, I could go on).My Favourite Year doesn't have the substance that the narrative (and narration) suggests that it will have and perhaps is a little unsatisfying if you are trying to take it even slightly seriously as a story but if you are even vaguely in the mood it is hard not to be charmed by it. With nostalgic whimsy as the approach the film delivers laughs that range from the slap-stick to the witty and, while you'll not be rolling on the floor it produced such consistent chuckles for me that it was hard not to enjoy it despite its apparent weaknesses in other areas. Not a classic comedy that will stand for all time, but one that more than does the job for its own running time, which in fairness is all you should be asking of it.