A few parts had me howling, even though the rest of the room was dead quiet. But I've always been a fan of Jerry's more subtle "deadpan" humour and surrealistic, wordless scenes where the comedy seeps into you rather than the bang-pow punchline type of laugh.
For example in CINDERFELLA there's that scene where he's trying to light his stepbrother's cigarette. No music, no dialogue, no camera motion at all. Just 120 seconds of pure disaster. Or in NUTTY PROFESSOR there's the hilarious scene where he timidly enters the dean's office--again, no sound, no words, just a thick, hilarious atmosphere.
WAY... WAY OUT has a few of those types of gags, and they were brilliantly done, including one of the funniest gags I've ever seen ("If I'm not mistaken, that's Stella Mary right there"). Unfortunately the film seemed to switch gears halfway through, once they're on the moon, and it became more of a silly sitcom. Still, I enjoyed it until the end.
A word about the visual presentation: magnificent! Sure, we don't generally go to Jerry Lewis movies to see artistic cinematography, but it's there. The sets are surreal (futuristic in a cool retro-60s way). Everything was large and colourful. Shots are framed wonderfully (be sure to see it in widescreen). The camera moves smoothly and brilliantly throughout the action. But then, as I said above, everything changes once they're on the moon. The sets become smaller, more claustrophobic and less grandiose. This returns us to the silly sitcom feel.
Overall it was wacky & entertaining. I think it's best watched by people who are familiar with Jerry's subtle style, rather than his slapstick skits. For that reason I'm afraid most people will be disappointed. But a few of you may really enjoy it.
