The Man with One Red Shoe

Sleepwalking

The Man with One Red Shoe features Tom Hanks as the unwitting subject of a team of CIA operatives. Hanks is a red herring to take said operatives off the real trail. The character, the concertmaster of a major symphony orchestra, is just oblivious enough to not piece together what's going on. A comparatively youthful Hanks makes the role work just fine without much effort.

Actually, just about everyone in the movie sleepwalks through their roles. Dabney Coleman and Charles Durning, both of whom I'd seen so recently in Tootsie, should be more nefarious as battling CIA big wigs, but they don't bring much enthusiasm to their work. Carrie Fisher may bare about as much skin as she did at Princess Leia's most revealing, but this role is a far cry from her similar turn in The Blues Brothers.

I haven't been very complimentary to the movie yet, but not because I didn't like it. Some of it is very charming, but most of the comedy lacks ambition. As an example, the massive computer used to process what the CIA suspects to be a coded transmission could've been much funnier. They could've gone for a HAL parody, or at least WOPR. If you like Hanks and Coleman, then go for it, but don't expect anything too great.

Nitpicking

• There is a delightful scene involving bathroom fixtures gone awry. Even though it's probably the film's biggest laugh, it's just not possible. Big points to Hanks for making this scene funny by understating his character's frustration.
• Does Julliard really give full-boat scholarships? Seems pretty unlikely.