ThiefHott Too much of everything

Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.

Dotbankey A lot of fun.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

bkoganbing After his very successful and critically acclaimed The Last Picture Show, Peter Bogdanovich sought to revive the screwball comedies of the 30s. Aiding and abetting him in the revival are Barbra Streisand and Ryan O'Neal in What's Up Doc?Babs and Ryan are in roles that were played by Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant 4 decades ago. The resemblance to Bringing Up Baby is unmistakable. You might also recognize the characters Rock Hudson and Paula Prentiss played in Man's Favorite Sport. That both those films were directed by Howard Hawks is also unmistakable. Bogdanovich had also directed a documentary tribute to Hawks.O'Neal is a musicologist who is looking for a grant to develop a theory about how early cavemen made the first music using igneous rocks that have a tonal quality. I was picturing those Cro-Magnon jam sessions myself, but in a funny way it actually sounds plausible. Anyway he's got some rocks that give out tones and he's traveling with them to demonstrate.Unfortunately three other people are traveling with the same exact traveling bags, one of them carrying Mabel Albertson's jewels and another carrying some top secret plans. They all stay at the same San Francisco hotel and that's half the comedy. The other half is Barbra trying to 'help' O'Neal out of and into all kinds of situations.Funniest scenes are O'Neal and Streisand after setting fire to his room and O'Neal dealing with hotel manager John Hillerman. Later on a goofy chase scene through half of San Francisco ending up in the bay and then having to tell it to the judge. Madeline Kahn who got named in the credits as being 'introduced' plays O'Neal's uptight fiancé. She and Kenneth Mars as O'Neal's rival for the grant stand out among the supporting players.What's Up Doc? holds up very well, as well as the two Hawks films it is a homage to. Howard Hawks was no doubt pleased.

mark.waltz "Watch it!" Streisand spouts during a duet of "You're the Top" when Ryan O'Neal sings "You're the nose..." Of course, she's delighted with his retort of "On the great Durante". That's just one indication of the style of comedy here, a throw-back to "Hellzapoppin'" with its "Airplane!" style like gags and of course the great screwball comedies of the 1930's and 40's. Streisand is at her most gorgeous here, with long flowing blonde hair, and O'Neal gets past his poster-boy good looks by playing a rather nebbish character who has about as much romance here as Slim Pickens."When you go to San Francisco, wear a flower in your hair!", the famous song says, and this is exactly that era, not quite "Tales of the City", yet flowing with memories of one of the most visually exciting cities on the West coast. The plot starts off where all San Francisco movies should start, the airport, and when you get your first glimpse of Streisand, stalking O'Neal for a reason that is never made clear, you are entranced. She makes small talk with him in a drug store, a vision which does not go unnoticed by his obnoxious fiancée (Madeline Kahn in her film debut), and ends up at the same hotel where ironically his briefcase (filled with rocks) looks exactly like the one held by the short-skirted matron (Mabel Albertson) who is carrying her valuable jewelry collection. Albertson, by the time this film is over, will have one of her famous "Bewitched" sick headaches, tripped very hysterically by future "Boss Hogg" Sorrel Booke and at one point falling down on the hotel floor, smacking the carpet in tears when her jewelry case is stolen.Kenneth Mars, who would go onto film immortality by playing the metal-armed police inspector in "Young Frankenstein", plays O'Neal's rival for a business contract to be handed out by the subtly wise-cracking Austin Pendleton, and John Hillerman is the epitome of drollness as the hotel manager who suggests O'Neal leave the hotel room he is occupying. "When?", O'Neal asks. "Yesterday", Hillerman responds, just as bluntly as he would do much later with Tom Selleck on "Magnum P.I.". In between, you've got Kahn throwing tantrums, Streisand smirking and plotting as she poses as O'Neal's fiancée, and finally, an outrageous chase sequence through San Francisco where practically every famous location is shown, spoofing an earlier chase sequence in the very serious "Bullit", and later repeated (but not ripped off) in "Foul Play".Streisand gets to sing a bit of "As Time Goes By" here, in addition to "You're the Top" (over the opening and closing credits), and O'Neal even gets to spoof Ali MacGraw's famous line from "Love Story". Obviously a take-off on the Katharine Hepburn/Cary Grant comic masterpiece "Bringing Up Baby", "What's Up Doc?" still holds up freshly on its own, a modern classic even if it has passed the 40 year mark, and a master class in what modern comedy should be without being crude. Director Peter Bogdanavich was hot after "The Last Picture Show" and would remain fresh with "Paper Moon" but unfortunately, that success was short-lived.

myspecialparadise Okay ... first things first ... buy it and watch it whenever you are desperate for a laugh! This is a fast paced movie that keeps you laughing all the way through. The chemistry between Streisand and O'Neal is totally unique as no matter what Ryan O'Neal's character does, he can not lose Barbra ... the woman just keeps popping up and causing mayhem where ever she goes.The story centers around a few pieces of popular luggage, approximately the size of a doctor's bag, that becomes an object in a keep-away game, and is owned by three or four different people ... one containing rocks, one containing jewels, one containing secret papers ... you get the idea. Throw in some spies, a couple of jewel thieves, a guy trying to get financial support for his rock studies, a frantic fiancée, and the biggest jinx in history ... and you have a mad house of fiascoes and misadventures with one heck of a surprise ending! The acting is top notch ... Streisand and O'Neal are in top form ... and Madeline Kahn was the perfect choice to play the matronly fiancée! This movie is no great Oscar Winner ... but it is Family Fun, Fun, Fun, at its best!

GeneralUrsus One of the funniest comic romps to ever hit the silver screen. Ryan O'Neal is perfect as Howard Bannister; a bumbling musicologist who cannot seem to elude the precocious, disaster prone clutches of Barbara Streisand's Judy Maxwell.Streisand really sparkles here and is a riotous foil to O'Neal. Madeline Kahn, in her feature debut, is flat out hysterical as Howard's overbearing fiancée Eunice. This is a classic, screwball farce where four mixed up plaid bags are the ingredients to side-splitting mayhem.Director Peter Bogdanovich does an excellent job of serving up an array of perfectly timed comic set pieces which his troupe of seasoned character actors and stars deliver with lunatic aplomb. There are non- stop bits, one liners, a hilarious hotel hallway scene with slamming doors, zany slapstick fights and a comic crescendo which features the most masterful and madcap chase sequence up, over and around the hills, steps and streets of San Francisco.This is a tremendously funny film that will keep you giggling continuously whether it is your first viewing or your twenty-first.