Mi chófer

OK, so it's no epic piece of cinematic history, and sure it's a formulaic and derivative romantic comedy, but I still rank it as one of my all-time favorite films because it possesses a wonderful plot structure, engaging vignettes ("A blue lady with a blue dog! That's 20,000 points!"), well-drawn characters, witty dialog, a lot of heart and a lot of laughs - not to mention a finger-snapping, so-80s soundtrack from a seemingly never-to-be-heard-from-again band called The Wigs "My Chauffeur" is all-around well written and well realized. Watching this film, you can tell the people involved both in front of and behind the camera really put their imaginations and talents into crafting something special. Deborah Foreman is quirky-cute-cool as Casey Meadows, an aspiring limo driver who shakes up the stuffy status quo of Brentwood Limousine Company when she's hush-hush hired by its reclusive owner (E.G. Marshall). She faces the cold shoulders of all of the older male drivers, save for a paternal Irish gent (played marvelously by Sean McClory) who takes her under his wing. Sam Jones is marvelous as Battle Witherspoon, the dictatorial corporate suit who's all business and no pleasure - until he meets Foreman's Casey and slowly melts for her. The romance that ensues between them is surrounded by a wonderful cast of characters who populate the movie's tangental scenes, such as the one that features the film debut of Penn & Teller (as a con man and a Middle Eastern prince, respectively). Myself, I get a little choked up every time I see the scenes where Casey comes to the transportation rescue of a young man being berated by his girlfriend for not having a car, and where Battle finally realizes what a jerk he's been and commands his long-suffering, single-mom secretary to march down to human resources the following Monday and name her own raise. Touching, heartfelt, sincere stuff. Yeah, it's a fairy tale film filled with other little fairy tales, but that's what makes it so much fun. Even more fun: "My Chauffeur" has one of the most fall-down laughing drunk scenes I've ever seen. After Jones' character gets dumped by his girlfriend, he gets rip-roaring blotto in the back of Casey's limo. Chugging scotch, primal screaming and spewing venom he declares his freedom and commences to streak stark naked through a neighborhood park. In terms of sheer hilarity it rivals the scene in "The Money Pit" where Tom Hanks laughs himself into hysterics after the bathtub plunges through the bathroom and shatters on the first floor. It's just movie magic. As you can tell, I've seen this film a few times, and will undoubtedly see it a few more in my lifetime. But everytime I see it, there is some bittersweetness that manifests itself as the credits roll at the end as I ask myself "where are they now?"

A woman is hired as a chauffeur for a limousine company. Her appointment causes all manner of perturbation and despair in the chauvinistic environs of this male-only club. Much to her male colleagues annoyance, she pretty much immediately makes a good impression with their clients though and gets involved with a relationship with a hard-nosed businessman who hires her as a driver. As is the way of these films, they start out getting on very badly but as time progresses a love affair emerges and the businessman learns from the error of his ways.

This 80's effort is overall pretty good fun. It's hardly going to blow your mind with its originality or anything though, as it is in essence a formulaic romantic comedy. But it has a very likable performance from Deborah Foreman underpinning it. She elevates the material up a notch or two. Appearing alongside her is Sam J. Jones, surely best known for his starring role in the earlier movie Flash Gordon (1980). There is also the first cinematic appearance of Penn and Teller, as a couple of oddballs who Foreman picks up latterly in the story. And we also have some very 80's music performed by the never popular new wave band, The Wigs. All-in-all, this is not bad for a low budget 80's comedy, it's corny but gets by on a reasonable amount of charm.

The lovely lady was one of the brightest stars of the 1980s, bringing an irresistible presence to such other favourites as "Valley Girl", "April Fool's Day", and "Waxwork". Here she shines as Casey Meadows, a kooky free spirit hired by a limousine company. Unfortunately, she's not welcomed with open arms as the place is staffed almost exclusively by miserable, stuffy chauvinists. They do everything that they can to discourage her, including giving her the problem clients, such as an outrageous rock star. However, Casey finds that her most problematic client will be Battle (Sam Jones of the 1980 "Flash Gordon" movie), whose identity is going to come as a surprise to her. "My Chauffeur" is certainly very likable stuff. It goes far on the charms of Foreman, and while it gets very silly at times, it's nice that writer / director David Beaird gives it such a screwy quality, while toning down the kind of raunchiness to be found in many other comedies of the period. (That said, it's still an utter riot to see a drunken Jones run around nearly naked!) Among the memorable sequences are the extended episode with Penn & Teller (making their feature film debut) as Teller plays a sheik and Penn a fast talking con man, and the episode where the nutty rock singer Catfight (Leland Crooke) robs a "blue lady" (Diana Bellamy) of her panties as part of an ongoing game with his background singers. And Casey and Battle bicker a lot on their way to falling in love. The movie is very much of its time, with a catchy pop soundtrack as accompaniment. The supporting cast is very solid, with Howard Hesseman, Julius Harris, Laurie Main, and John O'Leary as some of the sour old chauvinist pigs; veterans Sean McClory, as O'Brien, and E.G. Marshall, as Witherspoon, are particularly endearing and effective. The pacing drags in places, but overall this is a very hard movie not to like, creating some good vibes for a pleasant enough 98 minutes. Seven out of 10.

This is a light-hearted, cute movie about a girl whose father works in a snobby, stuffy chauffeur company. Things quickly change as she joins, turns the company inside out, and falls in love with one of the customers.

Okay, so it's not THE best movie, but most people should like it. I give it a B+. It's got some good jokes, one-liners and a reasonable plot.

I love this movie....I've loved it since I first saw it at age 10...If you pride yourself on your love for off-beat movies, and have never seen this..please do..I can't promise you'll have the same love for it as I do...but I truly believe I would love it just as much if I saw it today for the first time....Deborah Foreman is perfect in this role..open enough to be such a great character. All roles are distinct, no one gets lost in the chaos. I hope you have fun..now get up go rent it..I'd loan you my copy, but I don't know you stranger!!