Yes! I agree with the Coen Bros references. This is a wonderful film. The Time Out film guide rightly says that this film defines the term 'offbeat'. I found myself chuckling every few minutes. Caan was pumping out some true classics in his peak (71-74) and here you really appeaciate the nuances of the role. Look at the way he reacts to Kellerman's 'Crazy chick' - perfect! But the real star here is the writer W.D.Richter. I see from IMDB that he hasn't had a film out in over 5 years. Why? He's a bloody genius!
February 10, 2001 |  | Kellerman & Caan: an easy match |  |
When critics do their lists of the great screen couples, bet you ten-to-one they'll overlook this duo. James Caan and Sally Kellerman are a wild pair of would-bes: he's an ex-con, she's a sexy, daffy schizophrenic. Throw in Peter Boyle and Louise Lasser as a nutty pair of suburbanites who go along for the ride and you've got a comedy classic. Deadpan jokes, unforced direction, a wild chase scene. True genius!
January 1, 2001Although not a big fan of any of the main actors here, with the possible exception of Boyle, this is nevertheless a great screwball comedy. Fine comic plot involving the search for illicit money that works itself out perfectly, memorable comic characters, including eccentric subsidiary ones like Shull and Garfield, and just the exact right pace. An untrumpeted masterpiece. Truly memorable
September 25, 2000Leonard Maltin, as usual, doesn't know what he's talking about. "Perfect TV fare"? The Coen Brothers were nominated for Oscars by making films comparable to this one - a strange, quirky comedy with a twisted take on life. Characters are clueless, the misunderstand each other, they inadvertently cause the destruction of themselves and others, and it's all very, very funny. Peter Boyle is great in it, everyone is, from Louise Lasser to James Cahn to Sally Kellerman. Better yet, it also features Richard B. Schul, Alex Rocco and Alan Garfield - you can't miss! Ranks along with The Big Bus and Slapshot as one of the funniest comedies of the seventies, the most misunderstood and unfairly maligned decade of filmmaking in the histiory of American film and this, my dear friends, happens to be one of its classics.
October 19, 1999More reviews at Amazon.com ...
Daily Birthdays
(4 reviews)