Mr. Magoo

REVIEW
Not that it was a classic to begin with, but the one-joke "Mr. Magoo" cartoon was an intermittently amusing series which found its humor at the expense of a half-blind old codger; Jim Backus voicing the character was the best thing about it. That it has found its way to the big screen in a live-action version is not only puzzling but probable cause to re-examine the collected brain power of Hollywood studios execs but yet again. Who approved this painfully unfunny project and more importantly, do they still have their jobs? Nielsen is totally wasted as Magoo, who here gets involved with jewel thieves, bumbling FBI and CIA agents, and a beautiful assassin (Lynch). With no verbal wit at all, the movie tries to extract its humor from slapstick, but it's a collection of tired pratfalls and hoary knockabout shenanigans.