December 22, 1971
Paramount
Comedy, Romance
VHS
C
This adaptation of a Neil Simon play didn't make anyone happy, including Neil Simon. There are two things that strike me on this viewing. It is sort of funny, even if sometimes I'm laughing at how hard they're trying, from the Midnight Cowboy joke to the way the dialogue, Tony Roberts's in particular, sounds completely unnatural. (His "perfect aurals" line and his description of a feather duster stand out most.) The other thing is that you've got these two young guys publishing an underground weekly magazine, but one is a shoplifter and the other a stalker (even after the victim repeatedly tells him she's not interested), yet they think they can question what's wrong with America. Yes, some '60s activists were hypocrites, but no one ever calls these two out on these specific issues. Yes, Amy (played by Sandy Duncan with a Florida twang) almost calls the police a few times, but she's too forgiving. And then she falls for Roberts (the shoplifter) and empathizes with Todd Susman (the stalker). The film is even more of a mess than it was 40 years ago, including the whole thing of Roberts supposedly sleeping with his landlady (so he can put off paying the rent), but only shown doing dangerous sports like sky-diving. The song "Girl," which Davy Jones sings over both opening and closing credits, is the same one he performed on the classic Brady Bunch episode that year. Peter Hobbs, who plays the man in the car who buys the Nitty-Gritty because it sounds like smut, would be Dr. Dean in Sleeper. The duck is uncredited, but probably not the one from The Million Dollar Duck, which Roberts and Duncan had costarred in earlier in the year.
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