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Stealing Chaplin
Canada 2020
produced by Paul Tanter, Ken Bressers, Simon Phillips for Dystopian Films
directed by Paul Tanter
starring Simon Phillips, Doug Phillips, Bianca Katz, Al Sapienza, Ken Bressers, Anne-Carolyne Binette, Peter Woodward, Liliana Vargas, Paul Tanter, Cheryl Prater, Chad Peters, Brent Barrett, Palomino, Chris "Bo" Anthony, Lauren Newton, Conner Zornow, Jim Doolan, Jim Severson, Rosemary Parris, Christian Legaspi, Michael Ray, Tom Delahunty, Zeth Daniels, Greg Sims, Kathleen Newton, Jordan M. Wiessen, Robin Bookhout, Ismaeel Javed (voice), Samantha De Benedet, Leo Goodman (voice), Wayne Newton
story by Simon Phillips, screenplay by Doug Phillips, music by Wesley Dinwiddie, visual effects by Daniel J. Fox/Chat Noir Productions
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Brothers Cal (Simon Phillips) and Terry (Doug Phillips) are two British
conmen who try to make it big in Las Vegas - but they've got one problem,
their scams usually don't work out. This of course goes hand to hand with
their other problem, that they owe money to everyone, from their landlady
Stapleton (Cheryl Prater) to the mob, who have sent their most brutal
enforcer, Billy (Al Sapienza), after them. In their desparation, Cal and
Terry come up with a particularly stupid scheme to make some money, to dig
up Charlie Chaplin's coffin and hold his corpse for ransom - that despite
the fact that they're clueless who to actually demand ransom from. What
they failed to anticipate though was that their graverobbery might stir up
quite a bit of excitement all around, so much excitement that they
actually want to return the coffin - but find the empty grave crowded by
fans. However, the story gets blown more and more out of proportion as
Billy and the mob are actually interested in the body as well, as is
landlady Stapleton, and a corrupt cop (Zeth Daniels) wanting to get back
at the mob failing to pay him, and Cal even manages to drag his new
girlfriend Helen (Bianca Katz) into the mix - and soon enough the whole
story speeds in free fall to utter chaos ...
Las Vegas legend Wayne Newton makes a brief guest appearance as
himself.
Now as far as crime comedies go, they don't come much better
than this one. Now sure, Stealing Chaplin was done on a modest
budget, so the film is no extravaganza in any sort of way, and the formula
of two small-fry conmen taking too big a bite for them to swallow has of
course been well established decades before the film went into production
- but none of this matters much, as the film is well-structured, is full
of fresh ideas, fun plottwists and eccentric characters, and Simon and
Doug Phillips really manage to ground the film with their sympathetic
performances of their basically idiotic characters and head a very able
ensemble cast, all of which is making this one very entertaining watch. By
the way, inspired by a true story, as Charlie Chaplin's body has actually
been stolen, though he was interred not in Las Vegas but in Switzerland,
and the story that ensued in the movie has actually little basis in
reality.
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