writers_reign Take one clever plot and divvy it up between two great American writers of the 20th century, get them to write screenplays some thirty years apart with the first emphasising the moral aspect and the second hitting the zingers and you wind up with two movies that can both sustain repeated viewings. Arguably the first movie, The Talk Of The Town, had the better actors - Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, and Ronald Coleman, plus the writer with the broadest range - short stories, novels, plays - in Irwin Shaw but neither Neil Simon nor thesps Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase are chopped liver so what we have here is a fine movie in which the moral aspects are played down at the expense of the one-liners. Personally I wouldn't like to choose but if I were tied down and a blowtorch applied to my sensitive areas I'd probably opt for The Talk Of The Town but that's not to say I wouldn't buy both on DVD.

drystyx Honestly, if any person watched this today, and could laugh, he or she would be instantly hired for a "laugh track" audience. It defines "dated".And I hate the word "dated". It's incorrectly used a lot. When a film is set in nineteenth century Tombstone, it is supposed to have characters and events that feel like nineteenth century Tombstone. Remarkably, it is the older Wyatt Earp films that are actually less dated. Not saying they are better, but they are less "dated".Here, we see the mores of 1980, but only as felt by the "outdated" blue bloods like Neil Simon.We see here the proof that Simon has always been overrated. He is a modern day "Homer". Homer's works survive not because he was a literary giant. They survive because he was the champion brown noser. The Iliad and Odyssey are complete brown nosing works of powerful rulers.And that's all Simon is. The seventies gave us the worst ever in movies. But the comedies were usually still good. The mores were changing, and 1980 was the cusp.Here, Simon has a "blueblood" comedy with upper society folks being white, except for an obvious token black couple, and all the underlings being anything but Anglo-Saxon.Now this was not only severe discrimination against the usual minorities for obvious reasons, but just as much against the Anglo Saxons who weren't in the upper class. In fact, that group doesn't exist in Simon's world.In Simon's world, not only are all minorities crooks and con artists, but they are failures if they aren't, except for the obvious token black couple, which is just way too obvious to audiences now.It was obvious to people then, too, but just not the people who could afford tickets to theaters. They were hideously behind the times.In fact, the racism of this piece surpasses any racism we see in works of the situational comedies of the forties, fifties, and sixties. And it is worse because Simon and his groupies really believed they were "modern" thinkers.As for this work, it involves Chevy Chase as a writer who is kidnapped by crooks to rob a bank. Chase is good in good roles, but he can't carry a pitifully written role like this one. His character is boring and not a bit likable. Chevy is likable. And the hope here is that he is likable enough to cover a poor character. Even Cary Grant would have a tough time making us care about this character.The other characters are just as dull. We're given the "likable" bank robbers. Real funny guys with guns. That was the mind set of the seventies, but only to wackos like Neil Simon's crowd. Not to most people, who were way ahead of them.This isn't the worst movie ever made. You can sit through it without squirming, but probably not without groaning, or looking at the clock. It is dull.This does show what the "blue bloods" of that era actually thought was "the future" and what they thought was "progressive", but rest assured, the 90% who you didn't hear from thought it was backwards. And we've seen a progression since then, which does make this a "dated" piece.

Aaron1375 I always enjoyed this comedy as a kid and even into my adulthood. Nothing all that spectacular about it, you are not going to be taken on a journey through many places and the plot is not going to have a surprise twist to it. However, it is very funny and that is thanks in large part to Chevy Chase, Goldie Hawn, and Charles Grodin. Though I would say most of the cast is superb in this comedy classic. Chevy Chase plays a guy who was once arrested for a crime that he did not really commit. Seems he is a writer and was doing research for a new book, however he ended up spending time in jail (I think a Mexican prison). Well two guys hijack him at his own home and use him to commit a bank robbery. He becomes a wanted man and ends up trying to find a hideout at his ex-wife's place. His ex-wife who just happens to be married to the DA of either the city this film was set in, or all of California. Do not quite remember which. So we get lots of laughs and Chevy tries to hide and Goldie tries to cover for him and hiding the fact that at times he is right under the bed when Charles Grodin (the DA) is in the room. Lots of near misses and such abound in this one that is for sure. I also found it funny how Goldie Hawn's character kept hiring criminals that she defended in court for odd jobs around the house. Yes, she is a defense attorney, who not only collects ex-cons, but also a whole heck of a lot of dogs. Like I said funny movie thanks to the wonderful chemistry of Goldie and Chevy and wonderful acting from the rest of the cast.

toddrandall68 I have loved this movie since I saw it in the early 80s when I was in Junior High. For 25 years I have liked to quoted this movie. Every actor was wonderful, and I find it difficult to pick one out as the best. T.K. Carter did such a great job, and he developed his character the best, I thought, as "Chester" the klepto-chaeuffer. When "Glenda" told "Nick" to give himself up, she said "If you're innocent they will never send you to jail." Nick responds by asking "Chester" if thats how it works, "Chester" responds, "Not in my neighborhood." Charles Grodin was great as "Glenda's" husband "Ira." I also wasn't that impressed with the scene in the guest room with Chase under the bed while Grodin was sitting on it. I loved that line, however, by Grodin where he said, "oh, he was limping. Then of course he's innocent, limper's never lie, limper's are famous for telling the truth." I highly recommend this. Your time wont be wasted.Just remembered that part with chevy chase "holding up" the gas station. After he remembers he has a gun he makes the attendent break into the candy machine for him. the attendant asks "uh, how about zagnut?" The gas station attendant says "we don't keep cash at night, only credit cards." and then he says