Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

Watched it again tonight with a bunch of teenagers who had never seen it.  They loved it, as every teenager who sees it for the first time must.  But I loved it too, and not just for the fart jokes.  One thing I liked about it in 1997, and liked again tonight is that, amid the brilliant comedy, Myers sneaks in a genuinely subversive message:

No man. What we swingers were going against were uptight squares like you whose bag was money and world domination. We were innocent man. If we had known the consequences of our sexual liberation, we would've done things much differently but the spirit would remain the same. It's freedom baby. Yeah!

I saw an interview with Ringo Starr a few years ago, and he said something to the effect that he felt they really had something in the 60s, something that ultimately got lost.  Myer's Austin Powers goes through the same bewilderment at hyperspeed:

Jimi Hendrix deceased, drugs. Janis Joplin deceased, alcohol. Mama Cass deceased, ham sandwich... 

...and of course Jerry Garcia's name is next on the list.  (Yeah...)

The next two Austin Powers movies did not have this depth, but the question lingers over International Man of Mystery throughout.  If there were no gags, the film would mainly be a meditation on what we had lost amidst all the victories.  The gags sharpen the point:  Would it kill us to enjoy life more?  Laugh a little?  Be a little bit silly?

The Hollywood Reporter did a nice retrospective on the film in April, linked below.  In it Myers notes that he made the film with his late father in mind:  "I was taking stock of his influence on me as a person and his influence on me with comedy in general. So Austin Powers was a tribute to my father, who [introduced me to] James Bond, Peter Sellers, The Beatles, The Goodies, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore."

A few other choice bits:

One thing that is key is Jay [Roach] said all of Austin's world is primary colors, and it's fuzzy and soft. Dr. Evil's world is hard, dangerous, gray or brushed aluminum, black and white with a hint of red danger hither and yon, like a red, scary phone or a red radiation sign. - Mike Myers

I wrote "Soul Bossa Nova" in 20 minutes 55 years ago, and it just keeps resurrecting itself. I worked with Mike when I hosted SNL in 1990. We became friends, so when they reached out to ask for permission to use the song, I happily agreed.  - Quincy Jones

Once I got it, I presented storyboards for the fembots, based on the Castle Anthrax scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, when Sir Galahad is nearly thwarted by a group of seductive-looking women. I got Shaye and De Luca laughing, and they said, "OK, we'll greenlight it for $16.5 million and not a penny more."  - Jay Roach

Mike was very kind and had always been appreciative of my music, apparently. His father had been a fan of my music, too. So he told me about this idea with Jay about shooting in Vegas and putting a piano on a double-decker bus, and you just say yes to something like that.  - Burt Bacharach

Yeah, let's hear that again...



(link)