Funny Bones is a 1995 comedy-drama film from Hollywood Pictures. It was written, directed and produced by Peter Chelsom, co-produced by Simon Fields, and co-written by Peter Flannery. The music score was by John Altman and the cinematography by Eduardo Serra. The film stars Oliver Platt, Lee Evans, Jerry Lewis and Leslie Caron.
Plot
Tommy Fawkes is the failed son of a famous father, comedy legend George Fawkes. After flopping big with his own awkward Las Vegas stand-up comedy act, Tommy returns to Blackpool, England, where he was born and spent childhood summers with a family of performers known as the Parkers until leaving at aged six, 30 years previously.
Disguised with a new identity, Tommy's intention is to seek out unique performers (who have the gift of humor that he lacks) and purchase their acts so he can return to the U.S. and become the success he thinks his father wants him to be.
Tommy encounters his father's old partners Bruno and Thomas, the Parker Brothers, from whom his father learned everything he knew. Once great performers of Blackpool, they now work only as ghouls on a ghost train at Blackpool Pleasure Beach.
Tommy also sees the performance of a brilliant younger comic, Jack Parker, who truly is a naturally gifted performer. Jack is also psycholgically troubled, having been manipulated by a corrupt policeman known as Sharkey into helping him steal valuable wax eggs from French smugglers, one of whom is accidentally killed by a boat propeller.
At a club, Tommy also meets Jack's mother Katie, who used to be married to Bruno. Even though Tommy is in disguise, she suspects that he is somehow connected to the family.
After attempting to buy an act from the Parkers, a disillusioned Tommy eventually realises that his father stole his original act from the Parker brothers when he left England. He then reveals himself to be Tommy Fawkes. He also discovers that his father had an affair with Katie all those years ago and that Jack is, in fact, his half-brother.
Tommy phones his father about the revelation. George Fawkes, worried when Tommy vanished from Las Vegas without a word, gets on the next plane to Blackpool.
Jack begins teaching Tommy the tricks of the trade. George arrives and has a heart-to-heart talk with Tommy, telling him that some people are funny down to the bone and some aren't -- Tommy, unfortunately, is not.
George goes to Bruno Parker to ask what Jack (his son) is like. Bruno tells him that Jack is the funniest of them all, but has paid a terrible price. During a performance as a child, Jack accidentally killed a performer who used to pick on him during an act involving a metal bar and a newspaper, explaining Jack's psychological problems.
As part of their reconciliation, George arranges for the Parkers to top the bill at a Blackpool Tower Circus public event. Jack, however, is still hounded by the policeman Sharkey and not permitted to perform.
During an elaborate Egyptian act in which she appears, Katie manages to get rid of Sharkey via a sarcophagus, which is then kidnapped by the French smugglers.
The wax eggs they smuggled containing a mystical, ancient Chinese rejuvenating powder. Jack had previously placed the powder within a makeup tin, which Bruno and Thomas accidentally use, helping them to perform brilliantly.
Toward the end of the show, a crook is seen climbing a giant pole with a police lamp at the top. He is pursued by the police. After smacking the policeman in the face with a glass bottle, we see that the crook is Jack and the policeman is Tommy, who falls from a great height but is caught at the last second.
Gazing upon the audience in amazement, Tommy finally finds the feeling he was searching for all his life.
Cast
Home release
Funny Bones was released on DVD on September 2, 2003.
External links
