It’s never quite as tight or fierce as the original screwballers, but is fizzy and loveable and always worth watching.
What's Up Doc? (1972)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:32
Fresh:28
Rotten:4
Average Rating:7/10
Consensus: Barbra Streisand was never more likable than in this energetic, often hilarious screwball farce from director Peter Bogdanovich.
Runtime: 90 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: Trouble seems to follow know-it-all Judy Maxwell (Barbra Streisand) wherever she goes. This time it takes the form of Howard Bannister (Ryan O'Neal), a musicologist attending a convention where... Trouble seems to follow know-it-all Judy Maxwell (Barbra Streisand) wherever she goes. This time it takes the form of Howard Bannister (Ryan O'Neal), a musicologist attending a convention where he's competing for a grant that will allow him to study the musical properties of certain igneous rocks. Judy pursues Howard despite his protests, and his overbearing fiancée, Eunice Burns (Madeline Kahn), begins to question his motives. To make matters more confusing, there are four identical plaid overnight cases circulating through the Bristol Hotel: one contains diamonds and jewelry, another holds top-secret government files, a third is filled with Judy's clothes, and the fourth, Howard's rocks. As the hotel detective tries to steal the case of jewelry, an agent hunts the man who holds the secret papers, while the last two suitcases naturally find their way into the wrong hands in this caper-of-errors. After a sidesplitting chase through the streets of San Francisco, the entire mess gets sorted out in the courtroom of a tense judge who just happens to know Judy all too well. Madeline Kahn's film debut, this madcap adventure is directed by Peter Bogdanovich (PAPER MOON, MASK). [More]
Starring: Barbra Streisand, Ryan O'Neal, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars
Starring: Barbra Streisand, Ryan O'Neal, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars, Austin Pendleton, Sorrell Booke, Stefan Gierasch, Mabel Albertson, Michael Murphy
Director: Peter Bogdanovich
Director: Peter Bogdanovich
Producer: Peter Bogdanovich
Composer: Artie Butler
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Reviews for What's Up Doc?
Bogdanovich has delivered a film with energy, wit, and a madcap pace that is well worth watching.
Never less than entertaining and is sometimes side-splittingly hilarious.
Enjoyable thanks to the fine use of San Francisco locations and an agreeably nutty Barbra Streisand.
Hilarious live cartoon directed by Bogdanovich with sexy, silly turn by Streisand, and equally funny O'Neal and Kahn.
Energetic contemporary takeoff on the Hollywood screwball comedies of the 1930s.
A homage to Hollywood screwball comedy that by and large gets its pace and cartoon/slapstick timings right.
a fun, nostalgic trip to the screwball comedy days of old Hollywood featuring Striesand at her most likable
The strength of a movie like this, of course, is that you don't have to believe too much for too long, because there's something else happening.
Not successful as a screwball update; it manages instead to create a considerable diversion despite itself.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 15% 15% | The Ugly Truth |
| 98% 98% | Up |
| 36% 36% | G.I. Joe: The Rise of … |
| 52% 52% | The Taking of Pelham 1… |
| 45% 45% | Ice Age: Dawn of the D… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 68% 68% | Funny People |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| 45% 45% | Shorts |
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