Dynamixor
The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
Chirphymium
It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional
Ezmae Chang
This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
Eric Stevenson
I had to watch this because Doug Walker said it was the third best comedy ever made. What's amazing is that it outranked "Ghostbusters" and "Spaceballs", which he quotes all the time! I can see where he's coming from and believe it is better than those great comedies. My only complaint is that it does take awhile to really get good. He also mentioned that! It's at about the ten minute mark that it becomes relentless comedy.When I first saw the title, it seemed like a "Looney Tunes" movie. Turns out they are in fact featured a little. I'm not into Barbara Streisand much, but this is easily something that could make me a fan. I find it sad that the creators of "South Park" sincerely hate her and she even mentions Colorado in this movie! What makes this movie so funny is how it just gets funnier and funnier. When it seems like it's slowing down, it does something funny again. A lot of the jokes are around word play and it reminds me of "Airplane!", my favorite comedy movie. It's probably my second favorite romantic comedy, right next to "Annie Hall". The slapstick is great and it's so creative with its comedy. The characters are likeable enough for you to care about what's going on. It's hard not to recommend this to anybody. Watch this hilarious film for a great experience! ****
Red-Barracuda
There's not a lot of point in describing the plot to What's Up, Doc?, it's so convoluted and silly. Essentially, it's about a free spirit, an uptight musicologist, four identical suit-cases – one full of jewels, another with top secret documents – with different people after different bags. Needless to say, what ensues is a lot of confusion and misunderstandings.This Peter Bogdanovich film was his first light-hearted feature in which he re-worked the then unfashionable sub-genre, the screwball comedy. It's probably a film a little out of step with his New Hollywood peers, it harks back to an earlier type of movie and is decidedly unedgy. But you know what? This film has always worked for me. I mean its humour isn't always very good and it has some clunky moments but it's an immensely likable effort, helped hugely by a couple of very engaging comic performances from Barbra Streisand and Ryan O'Neal, with another notable turn from Madeline Kahn as O'Neal's prickly fiancé in what was her film debut. The plot is merely a means of stringing together an elongated series of zany events which are played up to maximise their comic potentials. It's not a stupid film though as it mixes in quite a bit of comic word-play in amongst the madcap slapstick and physical humour. The most famous of the latter is an extended chase through the iconic streets of San Francisco, which is always a lot of fun to watch.At the end of the day, this film is good unpretentious fun. It's silly yet quite clever at the same time and that's always a good thing in my book.
BlackJack_B
While I'm not a fan of Pierre Elliot Trudeau's ex-girlfriend, there's no question Barbra Streisand is a superlative talent as an actress, singer and composer. She has more talent in her pinkie finger than Jennifer Lawrence has in her whole body. She owns What's Up Doc? fully and delivers a tour-de-force performance. Streisand sings, acts, showcases her comedic chops and even sizzles with her understated sensuousness throughout the zany proceedings.Peter Bogdanovich's delicious take-off of the classic screwball comedies of yesteryear is spiced up with references to iconic Bugs Bunny cartoons. Bab's Judy Maxwell is a wisecracking, confident go- getter who is attracted to mousy scientist-musician Howard Bannister (Ryan O'Neal), who has come to San Francisco with his frigid fiancée Eunice (the late great Madeline Kahn in her film debut) to compete for a grant.You also have a hilarious game of cat-and-mouse involving four exactly alike duffel bags being stolen and re-stolen by various shady characters (one of whom is future Boss Hogg Sorrell Booke) without them looking inside of them. These individuals and Maxwell reek havoc on the posh hotel in uproarious fashion.Eventually, these two story lines mesh in a crazy chase through the streets of San Francisco where the screwball also meshes with Bugs Bunny.I really enjoyed WUD. It actually is a funny film and the references to the classic film shorts are spliced in at the right time. Like so many other Warner Brothers films of the last Golden Age of Cinema, you will never see anything like this today. It's family-friendly but adults will find plenty to tickle their funny bone. In a day of fart jokes, blue humor and sexual tastelessness, there is always the classics to turn to and WUD is a fine film.If only there were more Judy Maxwells in Ottawa...
krclews
This is without a doubt one of my top 5 all-time comedies. I see that most of the reviewers share my love of this movie. All I can say about the haters is "Go buy a sense a humor". While Streisand and O'Neill give great performances, it is the non-stop gags and funny nuances that make this movie a cut above others. As many people have stated also, the cast is just terrific with Kenneth Mars, Austin Pendleton, Liam Dunn and the incomparable Madelyn Kahn taking their turns making this one of the best movies of all time! Of course, the fact that this is Madelyn Kahn's first movie makes it noteworthy in itself. I love all movies, and while the old screwball comedies of the 30's & 40's are very good, I can tell you that I think this surpasses them all. Don't try to read anything into this movie. There are no moralistic messages or themes, just lots of laughs and fun. Just enjoy the movie.
