Just one more YES vote

I saw this when it first came out in my small town movie theatre for i think 25 cents or less back then ... i was a freshman in high school, loved movies, and would go see just about anything since, what the hey, it was like 25 cents ... i couldn't FIND ANYONE to go with me to see this one however ... this film had such bad reviews (and apparently nearly bankrupt Columbia Pictures) that if i hadn't had money from all my lawn-mowing jobs and bailing hay i'm sure my parents wouldn't have given me the quarter to go see it ...

it was wonderful then and finally finding a copy again after all these years, i've just watched it again and found it just as delightful as (good lord is it really) more than 35 years ago ... i was a fan of james caan and elliott gould and so of course thought that both of them together in a film would be perfect ... i was right, the critics and almost everyone else were wrong lol ...

this is really a great movie ... one your kids could watch too nowadays ...

and these two are absolutely the worst vaudevillians ever which is just a joy to behold ... it's not easy to be bad at something like that yet still be good enough to make you believe that someone would have hired them at some point (it was a pretty bad vaudeville company but still, i think you know what i mean) ... and forcing anyone unlucky enough to be sitting still long enough to be subject to an 'audition' ... it's the belief they have in themselves that really is just the show-stealer ... how can you not love these two?? it's true they'd need practice to become oafs but still ... caan and gould just really click together and make it work ...

so give it a chance for harry and walter's sake (they need every chance they can get) ... i wish they'd come out with a director's cut since the director said the drastic cuts were mostly the best jokes (how much better could it be with those in?) ...

it's not a 10 but it's a definite 7, a rock solid 7 ... and if you're a fan of either of the leading men you'll want to add this to your collection of their films ... michael caine does a pitch perfect suave villian and diane keaton does a fine job as a crusading newspaper editor along with lots of familiar faces from movies of the 70s (and a nice little cameo by the mountainous Ben Davidson of the Oakland Raiders ... he's the bouncer who nearly tosses harry and walter out of the fancy restaurant the first time they bluff their way inside)

just to add onto the few, the proud, the several fans this movie has on the site, here's another vote for a forgotten little gem

:)

have a laugh on me,
cormac


"Can you hear me??!!"
-- J. Depp as HST