For Jacques Tati fans
I have not received it yet, but Mr. Hulot's Holiday is one of my favorites and am looking forward to watching Playtime. Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 100% fresh rating.

Mr. Hulot does Better on Vacation
"Play Time" is the second "Mr. Hulot" picture I've seen. It would have been better if it were the first but then I might not have watched a second. The first movie starring the character was "Mr. Hulot's Holiday" which I would describe as hilarious. I would describe "Play Time" as funny and there WERE at least a couple of times that I laughed out loud. However, the humor is more subtle in PT and more slapstick in MHH and it is the quality of that subtle humor that led me to rate it as high as I did; that and the marvelous sets.

Imagine a day in which everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Well that seems to be what happens to everyone (with the possible exception of Mr. Hulot) in "Play Time". Of course, everything is seen in a humorous perspective and, while some of the humor takes too long to develop, it culminates in a brilliant opening night of a new nightclub in Paris. I mentioned that some of the humor is too slow in developing and that, I think is the main issue I have with "Play Time". I think if this movie were at least 20 minutes shorter, it would be more of a holiday for all of us.

Mr. Hulot strikes again!
Since "Modern times" no other film was capable to depict with such fine irony, the devastating effects of the industrialization understood as the messy and accepted quotidian way of life. The unfruitful attempts to keep an appointment in Paris, surrounded of automobiles, big buildings remits us to any one of the great cities around the world. This is what we might call a refined and silent conspiracy against this simple man.

The multiple laughable visual gags make of this film a notable masterpiece in its style.

Greatest comedy from Tati
This is a most wonderful and delightful film. I was grinning like a fool all the way through it, and ocassionally laughing out loud. It harkens back to the silent comedy tradition of Keaton, Chaplin, and Lloyd; although it's essentially like nothing else in the history of cinema. Hulot is a very old-fashioned character, and he's caught in an imaginary futuristic version of Paris which is all glass and steel and cubicles. A lot of the humor derives from the droll contrast between Hulot and his surroundings. I like Playtime a lot more than M. Hulot's Holiday, which is essentially just a series of sight gags. Playtime builds to a wonderful climax in the nightclub party (there IS a plot, including a love story!), and it draws on the tension between Hulot and his environment. Playtime is a very visual film, with dozens of incredible sight gags, but notice the use of sound also; there are dozens of "sound gags," marvelous sound effects (and great music!) that I can't really describe here. The movie works on so many levels: pure visual and aural comedy, Hulot's character and his looping walk, the plot, the parody and critique of modern city life, the American Paris tourists. I love this film, in case you haven't noticed.

Tati's confounding masterpiece
Jacques Tati's 1967 film "Playtime" is often a paradox. Reportedly, it was three years in the making, and nearly a decade in planning. And it bankrupted its creator, who was insistent on re-shooting scenes and building enormous sets.
Did the gambit pay off? Well, yes and no. No, because it failed to meet box office expectations to cover the money put into it (the most expensive French production at that time). And yes, because it was later hailed as Tati's crowning achievement (who lived long enough to see it happen).
To the casual viewer, it is not an easy film to sit through, running at just over 2 hours long (while most comedies run at an economical 90 minutes). Tati's pace is often leisure, purposely matching the pace of his beloved character, Monsieur (or Mr.) Hulot, a polite but clumsy wanderer, often out of place in his surroundings. In fact, Tati uses Hulot sparingly in this film; the real stars, it seems, are other people and the ultra-modern buildings they file through.
On the other hand, if you are patient enough with Tati's film style, there are some brilliant filmmaking moments here. The look of the film is unlike anything I've ever seen: a city filled with shiny, metallic monsters (with lots of glass) and chic nightclubs. Tati's genius lies in the fact he can focus on things that other comic talents miss: the idiosyncracies of people as they go about their business. Tati unifies his main theme with the terrible realization that we have created these structures to box ourselves in, to isolate ourselves from each other.
There are beautiful visual gags to cherish here: Hulot accidentally shattering the glass door entrance to the nightclub..with the doorman carrying on the illusion of a glass door by moving the handle to & fro; Hulot spending the entire day looking for his future employer in a maze of a building (and never connecting); nightclub staff coping with faltering lighting, lose floor tiles and rowdy patrons (who reduce the place to shambles by daybreak); and a climactic merry-go-round of vehicles clustered in a street circle.
Whether you find Tati's "Playtime" tedious or terrific, there's no question about the man himself: he's absolutely brilliant.
The REAL big question is: When will Criterion package and release Tati's other films like "Traffic" and "Jour de Fete" for the American viewers to enjoy?