The main reason to give this version of "The 'Burbs'" a chance, of course, is the interplay between Palmer, Pell, Proksch and Julia Duffy ("Newhart") as the neighbors with a lot of time on their hands. They keep the energy high and the laughs coming.
The test for the picture, then, comes in whether it's possible to emerge from it with any new insight into the man himself and into why his work resonates as much as it does. And the filmmakers find plenty of material on both fronts.
It all floats along, watchable enough as far as it goes. It unfolds in that middle ground somewhere between utter boredom and compelling entertainment. But you can do better than that.
It's extraordinarily familiar territory, as well-trod as any moment of pop cultural history. And yet "The Beatles Anthology" still feels as fresh and as relevant as ever today in the way it presents the dizzying whirlwind of this sort of fame from the front lines.
