There are some movies that reinforce my love for the medium. As soon as I lay my eyes upon them, I know that I am going to love them. Some names come to mind like The Apartment, Goodfellas and of course The Godfather and this, for me, fell right into that group. Without a doubt one of the funniest movies I have seen and a sheer delight from start to end. Just a positive, light, fun and well made movie. Peter O'Toole is superb and getting an Oscar nomination for a comedic role is a rarity and he makes it look effortless.
Fledgling comic Benjy Stone can't believe his luck when his childhood hero, the swashbuckling matinee idol Alan Swann, gets booked to appear on the variety show he writes for. But when Swann arrives, he fails to live up to his silver screen image. Instead, he's a drunken womanizer who suffers from stage fright. Benjy is assigned to look after him before the show, and it's all he can do to keep his former idol from going completely off the rails.
Where to watch
1My Favorite Year is showing in 1 cinema in Los Angeles — next screening Thursday 3 September at 19:30 at Landmark's Nuart Theatre.
Thursday, 3 September
Cast & crew
6What people say
Mark Linn-Baker is in this a criminal amount
This is one of those movies that, due to bad timing, I end up usually just end up logging instead of going ahead and talking about with a review.Well, I'm going to go ahead and right that wrong now and talk about this one. It's charming, fun, sweet and nostalgic. Plus, you get Peter O'Toole thrown in there too and he brings so much charm and likability to this movie he could probably carry it all by himself.But thankfully there's a really strong and fun supporting cast here so he definitely doesn't have to. Outside of Perfect Strangers, I'm not sure if I've ever seen that many projects with Mark Linn-Baker in it, but if this *is* one of the only projects I've seen with him, well then, I'll come away with a good impression. He does a good job at being part straight man (to O'Toole) and part legitimate comic character in his own right And the rest of the supporting cast is really good here too. Many names here and plenty do amusing and effective work in this movie.And finally, I'm not sure why Richard Benjamin didn't direct more. I know he had an acting career as well, but he seems to be a natural fit for directing based on his work here. But, at the very least, we've got this one to go on.But yeah, this one is a winner pure and simple.
What is My Favorite Year about?+
It tells the story of a young, aspiring writer at a 1950s TV variety show who is assigned to supervise a fading, hard-drinking movie star during his guest appearance.
Who directed My Favorite Year?+
The film was directed by Richard Benjamin in 1982, marking his directorial debut.
Is Peter O'Toole in My Favorite Year?+
Yes, Peter O'Toole plays the role of the swashbuckling matinee idol Alan Swann, earning an Academy Award nomination for his performance.














