Around the Clock: A Glimpse at Showbiz Exhaustion

Is it worth watching?

If you like movies that feel like a nervous breakdown in a dressing room, you’ll probably find this charming. If you need a coherent story that actually goes somewhere, this might just annoy you. It’s definitely not for the people who need a complex script to stay awake. 🎭

Norma Terris carries the whole thing on her back. You can see the actual fatigue in her eyes during the middle stretch, which I’m guessing wasn’t entirely acting. It’s that specific kind of tired that only happens after twelve hours under hot stage lights.

The pacing is… well, it’s a bit of a mess. One minute she’s running through a musical number that feels like it lasts three days, and then we skip five hours of her day in a single jump cut. It’s disorienting. Kind of like watching Shrimps for a Day if you’ve had too much coffee.

There is this one bit where she’s trying to eat a sandwich between takes. She barely gets a bite in before someone yells for her. It felt more real than any of the big song-and-dance numbers.

The musical numbers are fine, I guess. They feel like they were filmed in a garage somewhere with a couple of cardboard trees. It lacks the polish you see in something like What Price Glory, but honestly? I prefer the dirt under the fingernails here. It feels honest, or as honest as a musical comedy can get.

Things I Noticed

• The Eton Boys are trying way too hard to look like they’re having fun.
• There is a smudge on the lens in the third act that nobody bothered to clean.
• The transition between the morning rehearsal and the evening show is abrupt enough to give you whiplash.
• Watching them rush to change costumes in the background is the best part of the film.

I kept waiting for the movie to take a breath. It never does. It just keeps pushing. By the time the credits rolled, I felt like I needed a nap. It’s weirdly addictive, though. I found myself thinking about it the next morning, which is more than I can say for The Accomplice.

It’s not a masterpiece. It’s just a day. A really, really long, loud, and slightly sweaty day. Sometimes that’s enough. ☕