Forgotten 70s Comics Are Secretly Trying To Kill You

Written by Robert Scucci | Published 34 seconds ago

Here’s some unsolicited life advice. If your wife or partner decides to leave you and you suddenly feel like you don’t want to live in this world anymore, don’t make any unreasonable decisions. You might feel like hiring a hitman to take you out so you don’t have to live another minute without your beloved love. Those feelings, though extreme, can hit hard in the moment. However, if your wife comes back and wants to reconcile after you’ve already paid the batterer to end it, it’s best to make sure you have a kill clause in your contract so she doesn’t keep trying to finish what she started, like in 1978. Extraordinary Work.

Extraordinary Workpopularly known as “the movie Graham Chapman (of Monty Python fame) plays so that everyone forgets he’s there,” it’s far more entertaining in its farcical logic and action than its reputation suggests. It’s a shame how overlooked this film really is. Currently, it doesn’t even have a critical score on Rotten Tomatoes. Worse, it scored an unimaginably low 12 percent on the Popcornmeter out of 50 ratings.

I’ve seen a lot of clunkers in my day, and I’m here to tell you that this movie isn’t 12 percent bad. It’s not even 30 percent worse. I’d give it at least a C+ for its willingness to create a comedy of errors about suicidal ideation, rash decision-making, and the utter chaos that follows. It is not Airplane!sure, but also not The room.

One Man’s Fear Is Another Man’s Bread

When Arthur Harris (Graham Chapman) is left by his wife, Fiona (Diana Quick), for another man, he is completely devastated and can only think of one solution to his pain. He will kill himself. After learning how clever he is with a samurai sword, he tries to build a homemade electric chair by attaching a light bulb to its metal arms, with equally disastrous results. Fortunately, the Odd Job Man (David Jason), who frequents her building, shows up looking for work.

Arthur has what he believes to be a brilliant idea. He will pay the Odd Job Man to kill him, and call it a day. After a short discussion about compensation, the assistant accepts the request. Arthur has one condition: he doesn’t want to see it coming. The Odd Job Man, now fully committed to killing Arthur at an unspecified time, goes into action.

Things quickly go sour when Fiona arrives unannounced, telling Arthur that he made a mistake and wants to make up. Delighted that his wife is willing to remarry, Arthur now has one big problem. The Odd Job Man has already accepted the payment and was clearly told at the beginning of this professional program that he should follow it. The only “kill clause” in Arthur’s verbal agreement with the Odd Job Man is that he will be killed at some point.

Not knowing what else to do, Arthur contacts the authorities and becomes increasingly confused as the attempts to kill The Odd Job Man grow relentless. This culminates in a bomb being thrown into a public toilet, a milkman contaminated with cyanide, and other slapstick-based methods of extermination, all of which fail. Not knowing when the next attempt will come, Arthur realizes that he must confront his killer before he is caught off guard and loses the life he now wants to keep.

A Solid Effort From Comic Fiction

While Extraordinary Work it doesn’t have much narratively, it remains a strong feature that benefits from Graham Chapman’s body humor, expansive facial expressions, and willingness to fully commit to the piece. It’s a mess, and it doesn’t pretend to be anything else. Characters are one-dimensional by design. How can a movie justify a smart, rich man like Arthur making so many bad decisions in such a short amount of time?

You don’t need big brain power to enjoy it Extraordinary Workit’s currently streaming for free on Tubi, and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s a murder plot that goes awry, slowly building up until it reaches its breaking point. That’s all it needs to be.