Starring - Graham Chapman (Monty Python's The Life of Brian, Monty Python and the Holy Grail), David Jason (Count Duckula, Dramarama), and Diana Quick (Doctor Who: Scream of the Shalka, Kolchak: The Night Stalker)
Release Date - 1978
Genre - Comedy
Tagline - "It's murder having the Odd Job man around"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)
Rating (out of 5):
I never realized just how legendary Peter Medak's career was. I knew he helmed an episodes of the iconic horror series Masters of Horror, Tales from the Crypt, The Twilight Zone, along with the classic horror films The Changeling and Species II. I had no idea his career involved episodes of Breaking Bad, Hannibal, Carnivale, 7th Heaven, The Wire, and so much more. His career is pretty insane when you sit back and look at it all. He started in the mid-60s and was directing movies up until 2018. That's incredible in it's own right but the quality of these films and television episodes are phenomenal. I was extremely excited to check out this earlier films that was sent over for review from Severin Films. I started my little marathon of his films with the 1978 comedy The Odd Job. I want to thank Severin for sending this one my way!
The film follows the dull and boring Arthur (Chapman) who returns home on his wedding anniversary to find his wife leaving him. He's unable to cope with her absence and decides to kill himself. However, he has a problem with that. He's doesn't have the balls to do it. He then gets the idea to hire an odd jobs man to do it for him. Things then take a weird turn when his wife returns to him forcing him to try to stop the hit he has on his own life. That turns out to be rather difficult when he is unable to find the odd job man. Now, he is wanting to live his best life again with his wife while keeping an eye over his shoulder looking for his would be murderer.
The Odd Job is a movie I knew I was going to enjoy before I even hit play on it. I wasn't around during the height of Monty Python's fame but I did watch several of the movies growing up with my Dad. I was a fan and would often revisit them during my high school and college years. I still watch Holy Grail and Life of Brian from time to time and consider them to be timeless classics. I was already familiar with Graham Chapman and was looking forward to checking out another comedy with this legend. The acting in this one is a lot of fun. We have an energetic performance from Chapman and David Jason. These two made the film for me and their chemistry on screen lead to a lot of laughs. The supporting cast is solid, with some laughs brought in by them as well, but it's these two that made the film what it was for me. The story for this one is not something new especially by this point in the 70s. I've seen several other films, mostly comedies, featuring films with someone that paid to have a hit on someone only to change their mind. With that being said, this film was funnier than those other films but still painfully predictable. The laughs does cover up the predictability but it just doesn't have the replay value of the other films I've seen with most of this cast in it. Finally, this is not a film with a body count of bloodshed. It's a comedic film based heavily on character interactions and development. Overall, The Odd Job is a must see for fans of 70s cinema or those that find the Monty Python films and shows funny. I highly enjoyed it and recommend checking out this release from Severin. It's well worth it.
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