Possible spoiler. So many labels could be used to describe this one - "male bonding" story is the most obvious one- but it manages to go beyond all that. Gene Wilder and Bob Newhart work so well together, comparing their marital problems, with also the strain between them, with the one character losing his job and the other getting rich at the same time. Even the early scene at the summer camp is very funny - it's full of jokes that people associate with "political correctness" and "New Age" thinking, but in an early ' 70s comedy, since those things aren't nearly as new as people seem to think. The actor Chris Sarandon (whom I'm barely familiar with) had a genuinely funny line, "delivered" in a funny way - "I feel the need to make a good impression on you both - partly out of ego, and partly because I want a good tip." Of all the supporting actors, Nancy Walker had the best part, as the job counselor who gets emotionally involved with all her clients, just like an analyst. And it was full of lines from Bob Newhart that only HE could do justice to. This is almost a spoiler, since it comes so late in the story, but in one scene, he decides to throw away his watch, to show that he's no longer part of a daily grind. Then he says, "But it's - I just got it." And just the thought of him and Cloris Leachman as a couple is very funny - an actor who's great at being put-upon and an actress who's great at being intimidating! I have one very small "technical" complaint about that restaurant scene where he walks in with the strange clothing item, and everyone is laughing - it sounds just like what it is - a laughtrack. Someone here said it was actually made in 1971, not ' 74. That makes sense to me, somehow. This is really "labeling," but it has even more of an EARLY ' 70s look than a mid-' 70s look (whatever that means).
Review of Thursday's Game
