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Review:
Saturday Night Live's Best Of John Belushi
Written
By Rick Ellis
I have to admit
that I have a strong prejudice towards John Belushi. Besides being
talented, he was hell of a nice guy. At least, he was always nice
to me.
When I first
moved to Chicago, I used to hang out down by Second City, and this
was just the time when Belushi and company were in town filming
The Blues Brothers movie. And he and the crew set up an informal
and semi-private private club across the street. So most nights,
you could find him in there, partying away until the early morning.
And my first sight of him was I walked in the door the first time,
as he was pulling his head out of a giant container of ice, as he
attempted to keep himself going.
The trouble
with my memories, and most of my other thoughts about him is that
they don't matter much anymore. He's been gone for more than a decade,
and the public's memories fade. WTBS has aired The Blues Brothers
and Animal House to death, but it's hard for people to appreciate
his talent past that. And their rememberances of his SNL work are
colored by Chris Farley, who professed his love for the man by cranking
out a number of sketches and movies that screamed, "Hey! I'm a fat
guy!"
Which is why
it's good to see SNL airing this special, because it's a reminder
to everyone how subtle Belushi's acting could be.
The 90-minute
special kicked off with his first appearance on the show, a sketch
with the late Michael O'Donohue in which he played a foreign-speaking
immigrant going through language lessons that seemed to involve
a lot of talk about weasels and wolverines.
And it also
included the segments that you would expect: The Blues Brothers,
Belushi's impression of Joe Cocker, his marvelous turn as Captain
Kirk in the final mission of the Enterprise.
But as you
watch the clips, you recognize the difference between John and someone
like Chris Farley. Farley was massive, throwing himself on the set,
using his bulk as a comedic weapon to bludgeon everyone into submission.
Belushi had
a light comedic touch when he needed it, and his facial expressions
were wry and incredibly effective. Watching his eyes dance during
the Samarai Deli clip, and the way he paced the scenes of his Mozart
impressions, you get a sense of how effective an actor he could
be. And his ability to talk effectively and precisely made his segments
on the news set with Jane Curtin a beautiful dance to watch.
The show ended
with a scene that's easily the most ironic thing ever filmed on
SNL. A "Schiller's Reel" piece in which an elderly Belushi went
to visit the graves of all of the other cast members. He was the
last survivor, he said, because he was a "dancer."
You were much
more than that, John. And we miss you.
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