So, for reasons I cannot explain, I don’t have much interest in the work of Barbra Streisand. I suspect much of this comes from how my dad wasn’t a fan, and some of his preferences rubbed off on me. I still can’t claim to be a big fan of Sylvester Stallone (he preferred Schwarzenegger), and it took a while for me to appreciate the great work of Steve Martin (though, like Dad, I don’t much care for his early work). But Streisand? Yeah, I can’t say I have much interest.
But then there’s What’s Up, Doc?, an attempt at screwball comedy directed by Peter Bogdanovich, with a story co-written by Buck Henry, an original song by Cole Porter, with some great comedy supporting players, and the late, great Madeline Kahn in her feature film debut? Yeah, I’ll go for that.
Apparently, a lot of people have these red plaid overnight bags. Four such people are headed to the same San Francisco hotel. There’s a mystery man, carrying a bad full of files marked “Top Secret” while being followed by another man that is perpetually carrying a golf bag. There’s a wealthy socialite whose bag is full of jewels that catches the eye of two thieving hotel employees. There’s Howard Bannister (Ryan O’Neal), a musicologist whose bag is full of rocks that he is using to prove a theory while his pushy, uptight fiancee Eunice (Kahn) tags along. And then there’s a woman eventually identified as Judy (Streisand), whose bag is full of her clothes and a single dictionary. She takes a liking to Howard when she spots him and decides to romance him by inserting herself into his life. Beyond that, she’s mostly careless, silly, and not someone who thinks too much about consequences.
If you want to know what kind of person Judy is, look at the title and be aware that when she finally introduces herself to Howard, whom she insists on calling “Stephen,” while chomping on carrot sticks. She’s a chaos agent that refuses to go away until she gets her man. Basically, she’s the heroine in a screwball romantic comedy.
And that is, more or less, what this is. Howard is an academic stiff with a fiancee that is more interested in getting ahead at his side than having any sort of passion. Judy is just someone who makes mistakes, breaks things, and seems to enchant everyone she meets except for Howard at first and a jealous Eunice. There’s a chase scene, a pie fight that only seems to hit the same deserving, pompous guy with a vague accent, and since there are four identical bags, that means a lot of people grabbing the wrong bags in just about every scene. There’s clever word play, slapstick, and O’Neal makes a direct reference to what was probably his best-known role if not for his entire career than at least when this movie came out.
Now, I won’t say I loved this, mostly because screwball is hard to pull off exactly as well it was done at the height of its popularity. What’s Up Doc? comes a lot closer than most, but it doesn’t feel like it’s quite there. I can’t say why beyond a vague feeling. Maybe it’s just because it isn’t in black and white and didn’t come out before either of my parents were born. Still, I had a lot of fun with this one, and while I doubt I will rush out to see another Streisand movie any time soon, I didn’t regret for a minute going with this one.
Grade: B+
0 Comments