Les fesses à l'air

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.

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 ****

What makes this movie a comedy classic are the sub-plots involving Ryan O'Neal as a straight laced academic who gets involved with a sexy woman who is the girl friend of Big Eddie (the biggest bad guy you will ever met). While I wouldn't want to compare Ryan O'Neal with Cary Grant there is a feel of some of the Grant roles where he plays the shy awkward guy rather than his normal sophisticated role. This movie has the feel of an old time screwball comedy but with some scenes that only could be shown in a more modern movie. I will never forget the passionate couch scene where the girl breaks out in opera.

Well worth the viewing if you can find it.

Unfortunately it is not available on DVD yet... that needs to change!

There were comedies not that funny yet still provided a fair amount of entertainment. And in some cases, the actual plot took place halfway in and wound up not meaning a lot to the actual structure of the film, story, or characters...

One such vehicle is the semi-slapstick SO FINE by first time director and usual Hollywood writer Andrew Bergman, in which Ryan O'Neal plays a semi-stuffy college professor up for tenure...

He's reluctantly brought into his father's failing New York City clothing/garment business thanks to a nefarious criminal, played by James Bond heavy Richard Kiel, ready to take over Jack Warden's crippled enterprise unless something's done about the massive debt...

Much of story has O'Neal as a fish out of water dolt like his quirky spectacle-donning klutz with hidden sex appeal smitten with a free spirited woman WHAT'S UP DOC? (O'Neal even calls his plight a bedroom farce)...

Here he's in lust with an Italian moll while trying his very best not to get killed by her husband, the monstrous Kiel, who destroys a victorious pinball machine: It's nice seeing the beloved cult actor in a "larger" role than usual, his abundant size serving as more than punchline wallpaper; and he's a genuine threat despite the wacky shenanigans...

Meanwhile, O'Neal has almost no chemistry with the blond starlet, who looks and acts like a sexy throwaway bit player rather than a co-lead in a romantic comedy (looking as if Judy Landers bought 51% stock on Anne De Salvo)...

With annoyingly dated 1980's style sex-up contrived side-characters aside, SO FINE is best known for the provocative designer jeans with plastic in the back where the pockets should be, exposing a woman's assets...

And yet, other than a quick montage of the business skyrocketing, this particular device has little to do with the overall story - except that it accidentally derived during the love triangle mainline (after a "one foot out the door" situation), which is, for better or worse, what everything ultimately amounts to.

this movie is a modern remake of Shakespeare's "Merchant of Venice", with Eddie as Shylock. Other references to Shakespeare in this movie include the "pound of flesh" quotation during the scene where the professor is being grilled by the university board, the professor's various "Henry IV" quotations to the employees of the dress store ("we the happy few..."), the Othello production, and the ending -- which takes place, of course, in Venice.

Hm, anybody else see the "pound of flesh" reference flashing through some see-through jeans?

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