REVIEW: Blazing Saddles

In honor of Throwback Thursday,  I decided to review a movie from the days of yesterday - the slapstick comedy, Blazing Saddles.  Directed by the quirky Mel Brooks, director of Young Frankenstein and Spaceballs, this Western comedy offers a wide variety of hilarious craziness and racial slurs.  Despite some crude, offensive jokes and a weak plot, the movie still works and fits into the traditional Mel Brooks style, offering the audience a rootin'-tootin' good time.

Blazing Saddles follows the life of "Black" Bart (Cleavon Little), a lowly railroad worker who, through a series of corrupt politicians, ends up the sheriff of a small Western town called Ridge Rock.  While there, he meets and befriends the infamous Jim the Waco Kid (Gene Wilder), the fastest shooter in all the West.  This dynamic duo work together to eliminate crime and protect the town from an underhanded plan to destroy Ridge Rock and put up a railroad in its place.  The question is: Will they be up for the challenge?

Mel Brooks seems to be the only director that can make an incredibly racist movie and get away with it.  I found myself numerous times laughing at things and then thinking, "Should I really be laughing at that?"  From black jokes, to Hitler impersonations, to derogatory remarks about women, to ethnic slanders, this movie has it all.  And yet,  it is all done in a weird, wacky, and surprisingly lighthearted way.  The movie is, without doubt, a slapstick comedy.  If you're looking for a movie that makes you think and has a few jokes along the way, then look elsewhere.  The film relies heavily on silly jokes, bizarre visuals, and unusual situations.  Usually, I don't like slapstick very much; however, Blazing Saddles had enough wit that I still enjoyed it.

The script is kooky and the plot is practically nonexistent.  Had anybody else directed this movie, it would have been garbage.  But Brooks handles the movie well and you forget that the movie really doesn't have a plot.  Just sit back and enjoy the laughs.  Also, the acting in this film is great.  All the actors add to the comedy of the movie and their timing for certain aspects is spot-on.  Of particular, Madeline Kahn nails it as the slutty Lili Von Shtupp.  Her song, I'm So Tired, is a piece of comedic genius.

Blazing Saddles has earned its place in film history for a reason.  Despite offensive, racial jokes, the movie just works.  If its main job was to make people laugh, then it succeeded. Did it offend some other people along the way?  Probably.  But in comedy, somebody is bound to be offended.  Mel Brooks lets everything fly in this wild, wild Western comedy, and for the most part, it succeeds.  It's well worth a watch anytime you need a good laugh.

RATING: 4 / 5

This movie is rated R (language, sexual references, alcohol consumption, use of a weapon, and racial slurs)