So Fine

Having never been a Ryan O'Neal fan, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed "So Fine". I'm sure a great supporting cast helped (especially Jack Warden). We travel from the Ivy Halls of University life to the garment district of New York City, from clothing factory to an opera performance. Throw in a little infidelity, the "mob", and a new clothing fad, and you have a roller coaster ride of a film. Oh, and some advice, never date a woman whose last relationship was with Richard Kiel. He's the jealous (and angry) type.

One thing I never understood. The accidental creation of the jeans (that led to fame and fortune), never having made it to a real world fad. They consisted of jeans with cut-outs on the seats of the pants, with clear plastic instead of denim material. It's a great look! They may have seemed a bit risque in those days or more of a costume but no more. Anyone who has been to a beach or a pool lately will consider them tame. It may be an idea whose time has come........

Broadly-written and directed comedy about a professor of American literature who is forced into joining his manufacturer-father's dress business in New York City after his dad falls into debt with loan sharks. As an early-1970s Hollywood Lothario who first gained recognition on TV's "Peyton Place" as the resident heartthrob, and later parlayed that same appeal in the hit romantic-tragedy "Love Story", it is amazing that actor Ryan O'Neal was then typecast as a befuddled square who is nervous and unsure around women (this following his success in 1972's "What's Up, Doc?"). O'Neal doesn't really fit the role; his clumsiness isn't forced, yet the star doesn't have the innate grace for physical comedy (he's too self-conscious and heavy-spirited, and mock-innocent). The film has one great gag (split jeans), and a funny follow-up (a TV commercial promoting the jeans with see-through plastic on the rear), but none of the screwball hijinks in the boudoir raises a laugh. *1/2 from ****

This movie was funny for all the cat and mouse games going on between Richard Kiel and Ryan O'Neal, but the part I remember the most was Jack Warden. I will forever say that the funniest line in a movie I have ever heard was his line at the end of the movie. In the ending scene, Ryan O'Neal and the leading lady are riding in a gondola in Venice. In a seperate gondola, Warden and woman he has fallen for are riding. In the first boat, O'Neal and the woman are kissing, being romantic, as expected in such a romantic setting. Meanwhile in the next boat, Warden turns to his lady,and with bedroom eyes in this city of love, leans over and gently whispers to her..." How long have these streets been f**ked up?" . I roll every time I see that. ( pardon the language, but it is a quote.) That aside, it is still a relatively funny movie.

It is truly criminal that this movie is not available on DVD, especially when you consider the tripe that is out there.

The acting is on target and the writing is superb. Richard Kiel is perfect as the asexual mobster who forces Jack Warden to bring his dorky English professor son Ryan O'Neal into the family garment business. An affair between O'Neal and Kiel's incredibly hot wife ensues, leading to a clothing fiasco that results in the development of jeans with clear plastic back pockets and a windfall profit for the company.

O'Neal returns to school, leaving his New York garment district co-workers with Shakespeare ("We few, we happy few...") And from there the finale (Verdi's Otello, Richard Kiel in the title role, an appearance on paper by Pope John Paul II, and one of the classic lines of Jack Warden's career) can only be described as perfect.

BTW, Fred Gwinn is exceptional as the head of O'Neal's English department.

Don't miss it!

'So Fine'(1981) Absolutely hysterical comedy about a college professor forced by one- syllable mobster( played perfectly by 7'2'' giant Richard Kiel)to join his manufacturer father in the garment industry and inadvertently invents see-through jeans that become a national rage. Ryan O'Neal( believe it or not) is very good as the flustered professor and the great Jack Warden as the father, all but steals the film. Non- stop laughs for 90 minutes