There's a Girl in My Soup

THERE'S A GIRL IN MY SOUP (3 outta 5 stars) This movie has always had a bad reputation and I could never figure out why. Sure, Peter Sellers has been in much better movies than this... but he's been in lots worse, too. He plays the smarmy, self-absorbed star of a TV gourmet show who enjoys the swinging bachelor life, even as he hits his mid-40s. He meets up with Goldie Hawn, a hip, sexually-liberated young gal of less-than-20 and the sparks, as they say, fly. There are some really funny lines but a lot of missed comedic opportunities as well. To this day I still wonder why there is no big payoff to the wine-tasting scene... after all the time spent trying to teach Goldie that one is supposed to "spit" and not "swallow" I wonder why she doesn't wind up spitting up during a fancy dinner scene. This may not be one of Sellers' best but Goldie Hawn does a fine job... breaking free of the one-dimensional blonde ditz character that she was known for at the time. (She even gets a totally gratuitous nude scene... wow, this must be the '70s!)

I love the message in this film; that we don't need to conform to the norms of society to be happy. We don't need to search for life's purpose because there isn't one, we can just be ourselves.

This is a charming, beautifully made drama about an upper class man who thinks he might be envious of the lifestyle of those whom society hasn't moulded into what's expected. It's about a free-spirited girl who thinks she might be envious of being part of a world she finds stuffy and rather ridiculous. Both Peter Sellers and Goldie Hawn are perfect as the aging Lothario from a bygone age and the wild child of the sixties.

The story of mismatched lovers from different sides of the tracks is as old as Shakespeare and was used in what seemed to be about half of all the pre-code pictures of the early thirties. The society of the 1970s, when remnants of 1930s mindsets still ran through what is virtually 'modern times' with modern attitudes created two distinct societies happily existing side by side. Sellers' and Hawn's characters get together and embark as tourists in each other's lives. They're both cynical enough to know that this is just a holiday romance but they want to believe that their relationship can really work. Deep down however they're both too selfish to completely jettison their own ways of living and means of finding personal happiness.

Were this a 1930s film it would have either had a cheesy happy ending or a melodramatic tragic tear-jerking shocking denouement. Without giving anything away, the conclusion of this is much more like real life - it just goes on. That's not unsatisfying in fact it has quite a surprisingly optimistic feel.

Maybe because Peter Sellers is known for comedy this is wrongly assumed to be a comedy. Clearly it's not a comedy but despite its cynicism, it is uplifting. It's an intelligent and thoughtful study of an impossible relationship. Peter Sellers was a surprisingly good actor (with a surprisingly hairy back) but most impressive is Goldie Hawn who seems like she'd been acting for decades (with a reassuringly non-hairy back)

In many respects Peter Sellers is satirising himself in There's A Girl In My Soup, by playing this role of an ageing Lothario in the public eye. As such, Sellers gives a first rate performance as would be expected from the great man. Deep down Seller's character in the film was a lonely, insecure celebrity with low self-esteem, who depended on the adulation of women, and his fans like a life support system. In this sense Seller's was portraying the tears of a clown via this characterisation of himself.

And while Sellers has charisma in this role, the film lacks it in the comedic genre it's supposed to be. There's allot more that I expected from Hawn, while the director could have made more of situations.

In some respects, it could be said that the restaurant scene in the film Pretty Woman (1990) is an extrapolation of that in There's A Girl In My Soup, where Seller's character takes Hawn's wine tasting, when she appears to know nothing about the etiquette of the rituals involved in it. The director could have exaggerated Hawn's character's clumsiness in this scene, like Julia Robert's when eating her meal in the restaurant scene in Pretty Woman.

Overall, a bit flat, but worth watching for Seller's alone.

Being a HUGE fan of the late great (etc. etc.) Peter Sellers I was really looking forward to There's A Girl In My Soup.

Well............the premise started off strong with Seller as the ladies man who knows what women want to hear and what they need to hear and virtually every female (young and old) simply can't say no to. Considering the age of the movie (34 years and counting and the gratuitous nudity may surprise you) it brought back the free spirit of the 60s'. No condoms, aids, and marijuana was probably considered part of the recommended daily allowance.

While on the way to a party Danver meets a young lady (Goldie Hawn) who has just caught her good for nothing boyfriend in lip lock with another female. Since Ted Bundy was only a boy in 1970 she accepts the invitation to Danver's apartment and the most brilliant dialogue between the two is enjoyed for the next 20 minutes.

Thats when Danver begins to realize that women are not sex objects, but breathing living human beings with emotions. Hawn does spend the night but Sellers chooses to sleep on the couch.

Eventually a healthy relationship happens but despite the two good actors (well, one being the best of the best-Peter Sellers) the chemistry between Danver and Marion is weak. (Hawn had the same problem with Mel Gibson in Bird On A Wire). Goldie has a look on her face like she is kissing her dad and Peter isn't able to hide his boredom either.

When they return from a fabulous vacation in France, Danver finds out to his horror that the tabloids have printed that he and Marion were secretly married and chaos begins.

Thats when screen writer Terence Frisby makes chaos. The terrific conversation that was enjoyed when Hawn and Sellers first met is now followed by two people that are no longer individuals we care about. Hawn in particular now dives into the stereo type dumb blonde (and in an especially unfunny scene when she embarrasses Peter at a wine tasting test but Sellers sharp wit saves the day with a hilarious liner in the elevator on the way back to his apartment) and eventually you just want her to go away. And the ending? I still had both eyebrows raised after the ending credits started to roll.

Recognizing my review as a prejudice approach, I recommend this movie to myself and only true Peter Seller fans. But even they should be warned: this not a Seller's movie in top form.

Goldie Hawn (The First Wives Club) plays Marion, and was for nominated by the British Academy Awards for best Actress. She is adorable in the part as usual. Marion is a very young American girl in Europe whose boy's friend is an idiot. Because of that she takes off with Robert Danvers, Peter Sellers (Pink Panther). Robert Danvers is a very famous and very rich television gourmet cook - a celebrity. She does not know about his fame. He is really smooth with women but she does not buy it at first. But with all that money she stays with him for awhile, but then goes back to the young boy friend. Nothing great about the plot. If you like Goldie, you can see her at a very young age. Just a silly comedy. It is just okay entertainment. Watch it on television. It does not justify the rental nor is it worth buying it