1.   But it is expert in playing the jokes, both visual and verbal, and in earning laughs without milking them.

2.   Despite that, the film has a likable, wonky charm and many genuinely earned laughs.

3.   Every time Smith opened her mouth as sourpuss Countess Constance she earned laughs and, as chief housekeeper, Mirren was the spine of the downstairs machinery.

4.   Marlon Wayans, as a gleeful pothead who parties with the killer, also earns some laughs.

5.   The well-deployed cast includes Anne Heche, as a White House attache, and Woody Harrelson in a cameo that earns a laugh.

6.   To be fair, the movie did earn some laughs from a preview audience.

7.   While Belzer is earning laughs on a rare club appearance, his critically acclaimed but low-rated TV show is struggling.