All of Me (1984)

This 1984 Carl Reiner comedy is one of the best film showcases of Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin's sundry talents. Tomlin plays a sickly spinster who is given the chance to transfer her soul to the body of another woman, and thus go on living. But the magic man who is supposed to make this happen goofs up and locks her spirit inside a bachelor lawyer (Martin)--or, more accurately, within the right half of the poor fellow's body. Suddenly, the swinging man-about-town is literally at odds with himself, unable to make a self-determining decision without a huge internal struggle. Martin's physical comedy, always remarkable, is absolutely inspired this time around, as he convincingly portrays a man split down the middle between opposing sensibilities. This is also one of the best films by Reiner, a filmmaker whose novel ideas are sometimes more striking than their execution. --Tom Keogh Amazon.com essential video

Best Martin/Reiner collaboration

I love Carl Reiner's sense of humor. He helped create some of the very best comedy of the fifties and sixties working with Sid Caesar as actor and writer and then creating a television show about that experience- The Dick Van Dyke Show. Not to mention his work with Mel Brooks in improvised comedy albums. His humor was cutting edge for it's time.

Then he met a comedian, Steve Martin, with a new kind of self-referencial comedy that not everyone "got" right away. The result was a wonderful comedy film called "The Jerk," which was done in a style no one had seen before. Others followed like "Man with Two Brains," which I love,and "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid," which is loved mostly by old movie buffs for it's very inside humor.

But their best is this film, "All of Me." The idea of teaming Martin with another comic genius, Lily Tomlin, is truly inspired. Reiner asks these performers to do some amazing things with this script, and helps them truly pull it off. Only someone used to working with the likes of Sid Caesar would think that asking so much of an actor was even reasonable. Watch the scene where Steve Martin discovers that the spirit of Tomlin's character has taken over half of his body on a public sidewalk. It's absolutely incredible.

I don't want to give anything away about this film, so I'll just say,if you have ever liked Steve Martin or Lily Tomlin in anything you must see this film. It's the perfect collaboration of a brilliant comedy writer/director and two brilliant performers. November 25, 2008

A great comedy

You've got to love both stars of this crazy, wacky movie. A rare comedy that is funny all the way through to the great ending. November 21, 2008

All Of Me

I love this movie! An older film with Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin, but very enjoyable. A woman dies and leaves her soul to a woman who turns out to be a fake..so Steve has to find a way to cope with Lily getting put into him and getting her in the body of the deceitfil woman. November 3, 2008

great idea and good execution.

The theme of this comedy is basically similar to that in the escapist car chase comedy "Thelma and Louise". We have a single women this time, instead of a duo, who has missed out on nearly all the fun things in life, despite being rich in money. Thus, she hires a transcendentalist, while she lays dying, to transfer her soul into the body of a young healthy beautiful woman who hopefully will experience many of the joys she missed. Unfortunately, the soul transfer process goes wrong and she ends up dominating one side of Steve Martin's brain. You can imagine the comedic potential of this situation.
In the case of "Thelma and Louise", we have a potentially much more realistic situation, with the bored women getting their kicks over a few days before disappearing over a cliff. In the present film, the comedic potential is greater, with Lily Tomlin's character having fun making Martin's character look like a fool, then finally making amends as she is transferred to the body of his girlfriend.(Apparently, her soul can dominate only half a man's brain, but all of a women's brain). Actually, the film could have been a lot funnier if she had been transferred to the bodies of several more men, including Martin's law firm boss. The first part of the film could have been largely dispensed with, as things didn't get interesting until after the soul transfer process. The last scene,in which Martin and Tomlin get into a crazy improvised dance routine and eventually end up together on the floor, is also great. June 8, 2008

Love Lily Tomlin, but not this time.

I bought this after watching a biography on Steve Martin's career and this was listed as one of his great performances. I always liked Lily Tomlin and thought Steve was a good actor for some crazy parts like The Jerk. But this movie just didn't do it for me, too slapstick. April 17, 2008

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