Pension pro svobodné pány

I immensely enjoy going to the theater, I am interested in theatrical plays, playwrights, and sometimes I value and appreciate theater performances more than the film ones. But I sometimes have a problem when a theatrical play is adapted into a film. I have experienced several disappointments. In this case, I did not see the original play, but I dare to say that my evaluation would have been more favorable. The film did not grab me at all, I was bored, I watched it several times. And perhaps for the first time, I absolutely did not like Josef Abrhám's performance, it was even unpleasant to me. (01.04.2014)

Everyone knows or at least suspects that there is a significant difference between film acting and theater acting. Many famous theater actors had issues when they first acted in front of cameras and had to tone down their gestures and facial expressions. Similarly, many film stars completely failed on the theatrical stage. The same difference applies to the adaptation of a subject in a play and a film. Theater can afford much greater exaggeration and stylization, which would look forced or inappropriate in a film. This is exactly what happened with Bedtime Story, which doesn't deny its theatrical origins, and its gags and acting style clearly belong on the stage. All the scenes where one character doesn't see another, etc., are appreciated or accepted by the audience in the theater, but on screen, they look unnatural. However, this film by Krejčík has three top-notch character actors who also possess immense comedic talent, and they give it their all, passing jokes between each other and it's a joy to watch how they provoke each other to achieve maximum performance. Despite this fact, and considering the above, I choose to give this film a lower rating. It's simply too artificial, and it would work much better as a recording of a theater performance. Overall impression: 65%. (31.10.2011)