The World's Greatest Lover

Heading for Tinsel Town to compete for stardom as the World's Greatest Lover in an ailing studio's last ditch attempt at finding its own Valentino, Wilder's newly-wed small town baker is undaunted by the vast competition or by an embarrassing nervous disorder, and ignorant of the hunger harboured by his new wife (Kane) for the Divine Rudy. Wilder's second feature as writer/director hovers uneasily between homage and pastiche, and on occasion his specialised hysteria stretches too thin for comfort, particularly with several supporting characters being cut from the selfsame cloth. He also succumbs to the same kind of icky True Romance sentimentality that all but poleaxed Woody Allen's early features, thereby wasting much of Carol Kane's potential. For all that, there are enough laughs - DeLuise and Feld sparkle beautifully - to justify the price of a ticket.