Start the Revolution Without Me provides some solid laughs, but not as many as expected with the casting duo of Gene Wilder and Donald Sutherland. This is a lighthearted, humorous film with some funny sequences, but not a stand-out in either star's careers. This one is out now. A solid treatment from Warner Archive Collection.
“Produced and directed by comedy veteran Bud Yorkin, Start the Revolution Without Me broke ground for a comedy revolution. It takes the tumultuous “let-them-eat-cake” days of the French Revolution and gives everyone a figurative pie in the face. The story begins when two sets of identical twins – one pair of bumbling peasants (Gene Wilder and Donald Sutherland) and one pair of arrogant aristocrats (also Wilder and Sutherland) – are separated at birth. Decades later, one the bloody eve of the French Revolution, a case of mistaken identity tosses the wrong brothers into the wrong lives. As the guillotine looms and the palace of Versailles descends into absolute chaos, these four unlikely heroes must navigate royal trysts, deadly duels, and a plot to overthrow King Louis XVI.”
Start the Revolution Without Me is a lesser known comedy from 1970 that leans hard into the classic twin mix-up premise and delivers a solid amount of laughs. The two sets of brothers couldn’t be more different: the aristocratic DeSisis are refined, self-important, with a vicious cruelty to them, while the peasant Coupés are rough, simple, and thoroughly unprepared for life in general, bumbling at even the most basic of tasks given to them by their leader, but with hearts of gold. Watching the pairs get tangled up in each other’s worlds creates plenty of opportunities for farce, physical comedy, and situational humor.
Gene Wilder gives a hilarious performance in the dual roles, though it’s very much the kind of manic, wide-eyed energy he was already known for by this point in his career. Donald Sutherland provides some decent comic relief opposite him, but never quite steals the show. The supporting cast, including Hugh Griffith as a wonderfully bumbling Louis XVI, adds to the overall silliness. The film is clearly a product of its era: broad, occasionally absurdist, and more interested in set pieces than tight plotting, and while it offers some decent laughs, it never quite reaches the comic heights you might expect from a pairing of Wilder and Sutherland.
Still, as a light, eccentric period comedy, it holds a certain charm. The twin confusion is milked for all it’s worth, and the French Revolution backdrop provides an amusingly anachronistic playground for the jokes, with the dinner party and the conspiring and passing of notes all around being one of the more period specific but hilarious sequences.
Video
Start the Revolution Without Me is presented in 1080p High Definition Widescreen 1.85:1. This Warner Archive presentation is clean and detailed, with good color reproduction and solid contrast that brings out the period costumes and sets nicely.
Audio
Audio is offered in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono. Dialogue is clear and the score comes through cleanly, faithful to the original theatrical presentation.
Special Features
As with previous Warner Archive Titles, this has an impressive inclusion of extras. Nothing new, but informative and interesting, especially the commentary.
- Feature Commentary with Bud Yorkin, Gene Wilder and Donald Sutherland
- Classic WB Cartoons The Scarlet Pumpernickel and Napoleon Bunny-Part
- Original Theatrical Trailer
Start the Revolution Without Me on Blu-ray is a pleasant rediscovery of a quirky 1970s comedy. While it may not be the laugh-out-loud classic its star power suggests, the twin mix-up still delivers enough solid gags and Wilder energy to make it an enjoyable watch. A nice addition for to the Blu-ray Warner Archive Collection and for fans of Wilder and Sutherland. This one is out now.
AV Entertainment provided us with a copy of this disc for review, which if interested, you can pre-purchase here.
