The Long, Long Trailer

On a Scale of 1 to 10, with 10 Being the Best

6

Plot: A couple get married and decide if they should buy a trailer or a house. The architect, who travels often, wants to buy a home, but his wife wants to buy a trailer so she can have a home for her husband to come to, compared to a hotel. She persuades him and off they go on their honeymoon which is full of crazy antics and embarrassing situations. I enjoyed this movie, it was funny and the antics were realistic. The issue I had with this movie is that I expected more from the two stars, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.

Characters/Actors of Note:

Lucille Ball playing Tacy Collini: Most people know the infamous Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz from their iconic television show. This movie though is a little different. She's much more composed and her facial expressions are limited. Basically, the reasons that I loved the show were missing from this movie. This character, Tacy, just wasn't easily likable as she was a hoarder, straightforward, and a bit naggy. Ms. Ball is a good actress, don't get me wrong, but don't go watching this movie thinking it will be like another I Love Lucy episode. The trait I thought was great in this movie is that the antics were realistic, as in everyone might do this. It wasn't like in comedies today, where there might be a bear chase and someone loses their underwear. Instead, the events included getting stuck in the mud or cooking in a moving trailer. It was easy to see yourself getting into a similar mess. You empathized with this character as much as you laughed at her. 

Desi Arnaz playing Nicky Collini: The character Nicky was much like his character in I Love Lucy (Ricky) as he was loud, got frustrated, and a prideful character. The difference between Ricky and Nicky, was that Nicky was a push-over and a pretty nervous character. Whenever he drove the trailer, he heard a voice in his head telling him to "Don't forget the trailer brake!" When his wife drove, he became an overbearing backseat driver. In a way, his character made you like Tacy more, as you empathized with her struggles. This character was slightly lovable though. He wanted to please his wife (but almost to the point of making them broke) and he worried, because he wanted to make sure the trip would run smoothly. One could empathize with Nicky, as he was trying his best, but nothing was working to his advantage, much like our own lives.

Music: I was slightly confused on what they were trying to do with the music. Ms. Ball and Mr. Arnaz had a singing number together midway through the film, and Mr. Arnaz sang a few times after that. It felt like they wanted to make this into a musical but could only fit in a few songs. It wasn't so out-of-place that it was annoying but it did strike me as odd. The rest of the time was filled with orchestral music. The orchestral music wasn't too great but it keeps the attention of the audience.

Camera Work/Cinematography: I enjoyed the look of this movie. The most used effect were camera angles. They titled the camera when they were on the mountain or in the mud, the camera slowly followed Mr. Arnaz from one end of the trailer to the other, or a swinging effect was used when Ms. Ball was cooking in the moving trailer. Most of the movie did not take place in the stuffy trailer, which I greatly appreciated. They chose to have a convertible car take the trailer around, which created a more open look and a chance to have more shots of their natural surroundings.

RECAP:

This movie has some-what lovable characters that we can empathize with. The music was a little off, but not terrible, and the camera shots were great. If you are anything like me, than you might be sighing to yourself and mumbling advice to the couple. This movie isn't like the iconic TV show, but a chuckle or two is guaranteed. 

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