The Impostors

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The Impostors is a 1998 American farce written, directed, and produced by Stanley Tucci. It stars Oliver Platt and Tucci as two down-on-their luck actors who play like a Laurel and Hardy pair. The film mimics 1930s screwball comedy and even opens with a silent-film homage.

Plot
In New York City, 1938, Arthur and Maurice scrape by with petty swindles, practicing acting whenever they can. After a drunken confrontation with a pretentious Shakespearean actor named Sir Jeremy Burtom, they hide as stowaways on an ocean liner. Burtom is also on board, along with a colorful cast—an unhappy crooner, an aging tennis pro, a mad bomber who speaks his own language, and more. Expect mistaken identities, pratfalls, and plenty of chaos.

Production
Tucci and Platt, longtime collaborators, came up with the film after acting together since Yale and later in Beethoven. The script was completed in 1996, and filming took place in New York, New Jersey, and on a ship set in Queens. Fox Searchlight financed the film at about $8 million after the original budget of $12 million couldn’t be secured.

Reception
The Impostors premiered in the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard section. It holds about 63% on Rotten Tomatoes, with mixed reviews that note the script is uneven but praise Tucci’s handling of screwball comedy.

In 2021, Tucci jokingly remarked that if someone says it’s their favorite movie, he suspects they’re joking, and he said it would have been better if someone else had directed it.

Details
Box office: about $2.2 million. Running time: 101 minutes. Language: English. Country: United States.

Cast highlights include Oliver Platt, Stanley Tucci, Alfred Molina, Tony Shalhoub, Steve Buscemi, Elizabeth Bracco, Lili Taylor, Michael Emerson, Allison Janney, Allan Corduner, Isabella Rossellini, Billy Connolly, and others.