What's Up Doc

Streisand & Cast Are Screwball-Hilarious
WHAT'S UP DOC? is a "Streisand" movie, but the supporting players are just as much responsible for its success. I echo the previous reviewer and dare you to take your eyes off of Madelaine Kahn as Eunice. ("Eunice? That's a person called Eunice?") She is absolutely hilarious as she counts to ten, badgers fiance Howard Banister ("as in 'up the...'"), and reads "A Woman's Guide To Sex" in bed -- a hilarious character moment.

The script by Buck Henry is full of little comic gems of lines. One of my favorites:

"Has anyone ever told you that you're very sexy?" "Well actually, no." "They never will."

Streisand is gorgeous with her long hair and tanned body. Ryan ONeal is very good as a bewildered musicologist. Streisand gets a great singing moment perched on top of a piano as she seduces ONeal with "As Time Goes By".

There are so many funny moments in this film: the chase through San...

"Nothing much to see, really, we're inside a Chinese dragon"
It's a smart-zany-girl-meets-absent-minded-professor-and-hijinks-ensue movie modeled on the screwball comedies of the 30's. This is a funny movie for the whole family. And it's now on a great DVD with commentary by director Peter Bogdanovich (the whole movie) and Barbra Streisand (on selected pieces of the movie.) It also includes some behind the scenes footage including Peter demonstrating for Barbra how to seduce co-star Ryan O'Neal in the "Time Goes By" scene.

What? You want to know what the movie is about? Well it's about these four identical suitcases, and... oh, let's just let the main character put it in his own words:

"My name is Howard Bannister and I'm from Ames, Iowa. It all started when I bumped my head in the taxicab on my way in from the airport. I went to the drugstore for some aspirin and he tried to charge me for a radio because she said her husband would pay for it. But I didn't of course. Anyway, she ripped my jacket and then Eunice, my fiancé,...

Remains delightfully fresh after over thirty years
WHAT'S UP, DOC? has to stand as one of the finest remakes of a great original ever made. By and large, remakes of classics are profoundly stupid. Although the remakes virtually never match the originals (and admittedly this one is no exception), most are merely pale imitations. Although this one does not come close to supplanting BRINGING UP BABY, it nonetheless manages to bring enough originality to make it utterly delightful. Ever since I first saw it, it has remained my favorite Barbra Streisand film, and is delightfully kooky in a way completely different from the way that Hepburn is kooky in the original. Ryan O'Neill is indeed a pale imitation of Cary Grant, but then, who wouldn't be? But Madeleine Kahn, on the other hand, is a remarkable addition to the storyline. This was, for all practical purposes, her film debut, and she makes the most of it.

This was director Peter Bogdanovich's second hit film in a row, following his marvelous THE LAST PICTURE SHOW. The next...

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