I have to chuckle when I read some of the over-the-top raves this film has gotten from supposedly American viewers.

The Trouble With Harry will only work for you if you're a fan of:

A) British drawing room humor B) French slapstick/farce C) Hitchcock's --- and a rabid one --- who vehemently believe he never failed at anything

This is one of the rare instances when the studio idiots were actually right when they told Hitchcock not to embark on this project. It's a British movie made from a British novel with a distinctly European sensibility that posits that the back and forth burying and unearthing of a corpse for nearly 100 minutes is just the most hilarious thing ever. Because he's dead, you know? And since death is such a grim concept that everyone --- everyone, right? --- feels uncomfortable with, you just *HAVE* to laugh at it --- cause it's so freaking hysterical. Did you get that? Did you?

OK, I know I'm being obnoxious here, but that's about how subtle this film is, and unfortunately unless you have the sensibilities described above (most of which I believe are akin to coming from a specific geographical area), you're in for a very tedious viewing session.

I could say the same thing about Richard Linklater's "Slacker," which is one of my favorite films of all time, and which I consider to be quite brilliant. Notice that both films have virtually no plot and rely on very specific culturally-inundated humor --- but Linklater's humor is self-referential and Hitchcock's is not.

And that --- I think --- is why most people don't get Harry. To most Americans who equate humor with Woody Allen and Seinfeld (not Jerry Lewis and Benny Hill), the Trouble With Harry is he's...boring.