Rififi is my overall favorite film noir. Thus, when a popular Italian movie is advertised as a satire of it, I pay attention. Bonus points for inspiring a Bob Fosse production.
If you've seen one, you can guess what the other's about: a team of safecrackers. Oh, we don't get a half hour without dialog this time; that's even harder to pull off in a comedy. What we do get is one act of incompetence after another, generally by the crooks. Familiar actors include Vittorio Gassman (Bruno in Il Sorpasso) and Claudia Cardinale as a subplot love interest.
If nobody had told me, I would not have made a strong mental connection to Rififi. There's really not much in common besides the main heist. Maybe that's actually a strength of BDoMS: You don't have to know the original to enjoy the sendup. It's one factor that separates the likes of Airplane! from the likes of Epic Movie.
The humor is more verbal than I anticipated. I don't mean that a bunch of puns got lost in translation, but it pays to stay attuned to the subtitles. Unfortunately, in the edition that I rented, some subtitles disappear fast.
So does the humor work? Fitfully, in my case. The story actually borders on credible, with little exaggeration beyond expressions of emotion. One major character dies unfunnily, but at least I didn't sympathize much with him.
I may continue to watch Jules Dassin flicks, but I think I'll pass on more Mario Monicelli. Heck, maybe I should just stop watching European comedies for a while.
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