Pescador pescado

The premise here is pretty familiar: family man and insurance company employee Peter Ingersoll (Jerry Lewis) is told that he's dying by his doctor and supposed "friend" Scott Carter (Peter Lawford). Thinking that he has mere months to live, Peter follows his wife's suggestion to go on an expensive vacation on his company's dime. Peter racks up about six figures in debt, and then is tracked down by Scott, who tells him, guess what? I made a mistake, and you're not dying. Now Peter is embroiled in a variety of fraudulent schemes to avoid any sort of consequences.

"Hook, Line and Sucker" was, in this viewers' humble opinion, one of Jerry's lesser vehicles from this era. The fact that the scenario is routine stuff is just one problem, but the screenwriter, Rod Amateau, and director, George Marshall, don't develop things in any truly interesting or funny ways, and the whole story is mostly uninspired. There are some solid laughs at the outset, as well as a pretty amusing punchline at the end, but overall this is far from Jerry's best.

Jerry gives it a reasonably good performance, falling back on some classic Jerry zaniness. His "heart attack" is hilariously stupid, and when he's required to play the role of an "Australian" character, it's real eye-rolling stuff. He gets decent support from Lawford, and the gorgeous Anne Francis, as Peters' homemaker wife. Jennifer Edwards (daughter of filmmaker Blake Edwards) and Jimmy Miller play Peters' kids, and there is a brief role for Jerry's longtime repertory player Kathleen Freeman as an inattentive babysitter.

This delivers some laughs, and has a fairly bright wrap-up, but there are no genuine comedy fireworks to speak of.

Five out of 10.

I have tried any number of times to understand why the French think Jerry Lewis is the comic equivalent of Charlie Chaplin. I always fail. His sophomoric mugging always leaves me cold. Therefore I was surprised to see him in a new vein in this flick which I caught on American Movie Classics. Gone is the juvenile horseplay of his earlier films with Dean Martin. We have here a more restrained and mature comic style, shown to good form at the start of the movie, which is a series of set pieces showing off comic aspects of life in suburbia. Unfortunately, the film goes downhill as it deals with his extravagant fishing trip.

The film starts out so seriously. A group of doctors and nurses in scrubs enter the operating room looking quite grim, as if they are about to save a patient's life. The gallery is filled with interested witnesses.

And then the patient is asked what happened. We don't see precisely what happened to him until much later, but I will say the procedure is related to fishing, hence the film's title.

In flashbacks, the story is told. Peter Ingersoll is an insurance agent who joins an emotionless, dedicated group marching into work as if part of a military unit at precisely 9 AM. He has a "Leave It to Beaver" family living in a "Leave It to Beaver" house. Well, not exactly. His kids treat him like a moron. Certainly not the impression one had of Ward.

Peter does some work around the house and gets into the usual Jerry Lewis type messes--a rodent in the garden, a stopped up sink (this gag is really funny). One gets the impression, though, that he's not really happy. For example, though this film has a G rating, we do get to see that Peter and Nancy have some ... trouble in the bedroom. Unlike Ward and June, we can imagine where this couple's kids came from.

Peter's good friend Scott is also his doctor. Scott tells Peter he has some sort of incurable condition that will give him only months to live (though there are no obvious symptoms). Peter decides to enjoy what life he has left. And being an insurance man, he has a great policy that will leave his wife secure after he dies. So Peter decides to run up $150,000 in debt on a lavish round-the-world fishing vacation, figuring the creditors will not go after a grieving widow.

There is a problem, though, which gives the film most of its comedy potential. I shouldn't give that away.

Anyone looking for the zany Jerry Lewis style might be disappointed. The two gags early in the movie, and a limbo dance in the Caribbean, are about all the examples of the classic Lewis style until the movie's second half. Lewis does get to display more of his trademark behavior pretending to be Fred Dobbs in Europe. Still, this is an entertaining and funny movie.

Peter Lawford is very good. The other leading actors do a good job, and there are some really silly scenes in Europe.

The film got a G rating, though it should be mentioned a couple is apparently naked in a hotel, with the appropriate parts covered. But this could mean anything--right? Something similar happens with Peter and his wife. And of course there is slapstick violence. But nothing really makes this film out of bounds for most kids.

I had a good time.

I saw this when I was about 12 or so and it kept me entertained throughout. Of course when you're a kid its probably a little easier to be entertained. But I was such a Jerry Lewis fan that basically he could do no wrong in my eyes. He's a comic genius, hands down, no question, so let it be written, so let it be done. There were some funny moments, it just wasn't his BEST work. Not EVERY movie an actor or actress makes can be their best film. But its reasonably funny and it SHOULD be able to be purchased by people who want it!! I would really like to know why it isn't on DVD or VHS! If it were one of his classic gem movies I could maybe understand it but its just an average Lewis film so why can't it be on VHS or DVD so we can get a copy. Some of us like ALL Jerry's stuff! If anyone can answer me regarding this, please do. kctkeller@hotmail.com

Underrated Lewis comedy is quite good in parts. The film begins as if it were a TV sitcom with Jerry "happily" married to Anne Francis (of TV's Honey West) with two children and living in none other than the set from TV's Bewitched. We see him trying to outwit a gopher in the garden (who in turn outwits Jerry), trying to unplug the kitchen sink, cope with too many family members in the bathroom, and deal with an unattentive baby-sitter. This is middle-aged Jerry, still zany but a responsible parent earning a good wage. Think Tim Allen on Home Improvement. His wife is both beautiful and smart bringing the art of the housewife's budget duties to almost Wall Street levels. A visit to his doctor reveals he is dying from heart problems. Jerry tells his wife and she suggests that he pretend to abandon the family and use his credit cards to travel around the world. She assures him that his $150,000 life insurance payoff to her would be protected because she can't be held for her husband's debt if he abandon's his family. In addition, she has put in ad in the paper stating she would no longer be liable for his debts and the doctor would testify that a dying man would be too distressed to make rational decisions. Though the audience is signaled that the wife and doctor are scamming poor Jerry, there is no ground work to suggest there was anything wrong with the marriage to warrant such evil action from his wife. I was a little lost for words until I got used to the situation change. I suppose modern audiences weaned on Pulp Fiction and Fargo would find this an asset. After I accepted the new premise I enjoyed the rest of the film, especially a fairly clever last twenty minutes. Jerry Lewis' performance is quite good balancing between drama and comedy. The plot twists are just right to keep the audience interested. Non-Lewis fans might be surprised.