In the former corner lies love, real talent, hard work and true friendship, in the latter lies showbiz chicanery and sycophancy. Lewis highlights a Hollywood contradiction in that it is a town that thrives on real talent but celebrates the fake. The Patsy is remarkably prescient in discussing the plastic nature of celebrity — how media moguls can mould some nameless nobody into whatever they want him to be. How someone without any discernible talent can score a hit record, grab a spot on primetime television or become a movie star. As with many Jerry Lewis movies this is heavily episodic, structured around a series of skits that softens the satire, but when the scattershot gags hit their target they are sublime. Andrew Pragasam