Delightful romantic comedy benefits from a top-notch script (by Max Shulman and Julius Epstein-co-writer of "Casablanca"!), and the unexpected chemistry between lovable schlump Matthau and starchy Jackson, who are both fabulous. Affirming once again that true love will triumph over casual sex, "Calls" is a charming, clever romance, with plenty of laughs and heart. Matthau fans should flock to this.
Excellent Romantic Comedy
This laid back romantic comedy from 1978 is a real treat, particularly because of the performances. Walter Matthau and Glenda Jackson were so wonderfully combustible in the movie, they were again paired in 'Hopscotch', though oddly in the second film, they spent little time on screen together. Art Carney is a riot as a bumbling Chief of Staff, and all the supporting performances, from Richard Benjamin to the always delightful Candace Azzara, are equally enjoyable. Howard Zieff has a lackadaisical directing style that perfectly suits the material and actors. He basically gets out of the way and lets everyone shine. If you have not seen this movie, give it a try. (It was so successful it was made into a sitcom the following year, but without Matthau and Jackson, it didn't really go anywhere.)
One odd and rather irritating thing, though: The movie has the obligatory 70's love montage in the middle. In the original film, and in the TV versions and VHS versions, The Beatles `Something in the Way She Moves' was the background music, and it was just wonderful. The film was cut to the music, and it really had an impact on the two leads' relationship. Michael Jackson and Co (unless he has since sold the rights) must not have allowed the music to be used on the DVD, or made a ridiculous demand, for the song is missing. There is just some mediocre filler music behind the montage and it really hurts that section of the film. It's annoying they were not able to put the movie on DVD in its original form.
It made me roar
Walter Matthau was in a spate of comedies, spoofs, farces, and romantic comedies, and this might be the best of the bunch. Art Carney plays a fuddy-duddy Medical Director, with Matthau as an experienced doctor who sees himself as a romantic, Glenda Jackson as his love interest and nemesis, and Richard Benjamin as the young doctor/straight man of the team. Is it silly? Yes. Is it meaningful? No. Is it funny? Absolutely!
Actually, this comedy is one of the more enjoyable films to examine midlife crisis in the 1980s. Written and directed by Alan Alda, it examines the effects of middle age on a group of married couples who are longtime friends. Each season they go away on a vacation together, but the dynamic gets skewed when one of the men dumps his wife for a younger woman. Though some may find the characters' self-satisfaction and upscale neuroses a shade cloying, they are more than matched by Alda's solid, often funny writing. The couple with the biggest laughs: the hilariously paired Jack Weston and Rita Moreno (although Alda and Carol Burnett also strike comic sparks). --Marshall FineMore Info about this DVD Actor(s): Alan Alda - Carol Burnett Director(s): Alan Alda DVD Release Date: Released the 31 May 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $12.98 Your Price: $10.38YOU SAVE $2.6!
Buy it
Terrific character story. Great title: not easily forgotten. A paean to ice-cool self-control, about a middle-aged guy who keeps his grip on essentials. Cynical, if you like; but what is life about, anyway? Beautifully laconic --- it's nearly all there in the action, the personalities and the events, without tons of explanatory dialogue (although there is a bit of background exposition in the beginning). Charley is not a fundamentally violent man: he's got unusual common sense, good judgement, no fancy ideas, and he doesn't weep over spilt milk. He doesn't drink or smoke: that's why he's always chewing gum. But he doesn't mind wiping out a couple of no-goods, either, like cream on the last piece of cake, leaving the platter clean, with the dishes washed and everything put away. It all has... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Walter Matthau - Joe Don Baker Director(s): Don Siegel DVD Release Date: Released the 28 December 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $9.99 Your Price: $9.99YOU SAVE $0!
Buy it
Directed with a lascivious eye by Gene Kelly, A Guide for the Married Man has the illicit kick of finding a vintage copy of Playboy in your dad's sock drawer. With its zoom shots of ample cleavage and jiggling bottoms, this sophisticated sex farce is Naughty with a capital N. Walter Matthau stars as a desperate husband with a roving eye who is "ready to take the plunge." Robert Morse costars as his philandering best friend who becomes his "coach." Morse's "pointers" are acted out by a stellar cast of comic actors. Scoring highest are Carl Reiner as a vainglorious movie star arranging a cross-global tryst; Joey Bishop as a husband who steadfastly denies, denies, denies even after he is caught in the act by his wife, and Terry Thomas as a man driven to an early grave after his... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Walter Matthau - Inger Stevens Director(s): Gene Kelly DVD Release Date: Released the 06 September 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $14.98 Your Price: $11.98YOU SAVE $3!
Buy it
This silky smooth film noir pits gruff police detective Dana Andrews, stiff and blunt in his street-bred manners, against a cultured columnist and acidic wit (Clifton Webb at his prissiest) in a battle of wits during a murder investigation. The cop is a romantic hiding under a hard-boiled exterior who falls in love with the beautiful victim through the portrait that hangs in her apartment. Gene Tierney, whose heart-shaped face mixes the exotic with the girl next door, brings the poise and calm of a model to her role as the object of every man's gaze and the target of a killer. Laura, handsomely shot in dreamy black and white, is the first and best of Otto Preminger's cool, controlled murder mysteries. In the gritty world of film noir it remains the most refined and elegant example... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Gene Tierney - Dana Andrews Director(s): Rouben Mamoulian - Otto Preminger DVD Release Date: Released the 15 March 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $14.98 Your Price: $8.98YOU SAVE $6!
Buy it
Not short on murder, mayhem, or any other screwball '70s conventions, Foul Play is a wonderful vehicle for Goldie Hawn. She plays Gloria, a librarian "ready to take a chance again," who ends up the target of an assassination ring. Chevy Chase, fresh off of Saturday Night Live, does the closest thing to real acting he would ever achieve (okay, maybe Fletch) as Tony, the cop assigned to protect Gloria. Dudley Moore made an indelible impression on American audiences as Stanley Tibbets, a surprisingly kinky symphony conductor. But it's the quirky things that make this film: the grandmothers playing Scrabble with expletives, Burgess Meredith's snake Esme, the old Japanese couple in the back of the careening limo. From the opening credits with Barry Manilow crooning the... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Goldie Hawn - Chevy Chase Director(s): Colin Higgins DVD Release Date: Released the 16 November 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $9.99 Your Price: $9.99YOU SAVE $0!
Buy it
