Chéri, dessine-moi un bébé

This movie should not have been made. It is the only thing that I have seen Christine Lahti in that failed to entertain me. All I kept thinking of while viewing it was that it would eventually get to the good part. Mary Stuart Masterson was cute and Lahti was her usual beautiful self but nothing could save this disaster. I will give it 2/10 for effort.

Such a sweet, funny guy.

Just picked this DVD up the other day . . . Never heard of this movie before . . .

I thought it had just a few good, howbeit short moments - sadly, overall it was impotent & barren -

And rather ironically, this illogical movie was directed by an actor-guy whose beloved character's whole role was to be known for his extreme logic . . .?

Shows ya what a good actor he was . . .

I'm trying to console myself logically that I only paid 2 bux for this at Dollar General . . .even tho I know, very often those discs in cardboard sleeves are duds - I suppose it was worth that $2 to see Wilder . . . But sad that one of his movies was destined for a DG cardboard sleeve . . .

Note: this movie MIGHT be worth seein' one time only - hard to say who will pay $2 AND willingly sit thru - betting, assuming, hoping it will get better . . .

But the low reviews I read are not wrong. So it's def not a keeper.

Several years after directing "Funny About Love", director Leonard Nimoy admitted that making this movie was a mistake, and put the blame on the script. To a degree, Nimoy was correct. The writing found in this movie is truly bizarre at times. Throughout, characters spout out deranged dialogue that no human being with a reasonable amount of intelligence would say. Also, big chunks of time seem to be missing. For example, when Wilder's character and his wife have their first argument, in the next scene she is packing her bags and planning divorce - huh? I don't know if that's how it was written, or if the editing removed some scenes, but the movie is missing important information.

While most of the blame is with the script (and possibly with the editing), Nimoy has to share some blame for the performances of his actors. More often than not, Nimoy has his cast acting in a very broad manner that makes the deranged dialogue they speak even worse-sounding.

As I indicated in the summary line, this movie is more strange than funny.

Friend Leonard Nimoy directed Gene Wilder in his 1990 film, Funny About Love. Also starring Christine Lahti and Mary Stuart Masterson, this romantic comedy showed the struggle of the human need to reproduce and the struggles that come with infertility. Funny About Love is nothing spectacular but goes the distance in describing a difficulty felt by 1 in every 8 couples with some humor. Human life is full of decisions, just as it is changing our minds about those decisions, Funny About Love shows this inextricable part of human life through one New York City couple.

Duffy Bergman (Gene Wilder) is on top of the world in his field as a renowned political cartoonist. One night at a book signing he is hosting, he tastes some horrible cappuccino and since "coffee is very important to him" he decides he must meet the person responsible for the dreadful cup. When he is taken to her, he is instantly smitten with her beauty and attempts to get Meg (Christine Lahti) to agree to a date with him. Although initially reluctant, Meg is eventually won over by Duffy's lighthearted comedic disposition and agrees. The two eventually marry and decide, in spite of Duffy's reservations to have a child together. After three years of infertility treatment, Meg is dejected and sick of failure and wishes to stop trying to conceive. Never really getting over his uncertainties, Duffy was thrilled with Meg's decision. As Meg's culinary career kicks into overdrive during the respite from attempting to have a child, Duffy begins to actually want to have a baby. This time, it is Meg that is unsure and wants to wait to have a baby. The constant battle of when and if to have a baby proves to be too much for their marriage and the two separate. In their time apart, they both realize what they really want; but can they get what it is they want with each other?

Gene Wilder plays the quirky jokester of a cartoonist well, and Christine Lahti plays his lighthearted wife well. The two share a beautiful on-screen chemistry making the otherwise forgettable film more fun to watch. There's nothing really to take away from this story unless you are a fan of one of the principles. The writing struggles through the entire film, being very abrupt in all the right places. I can't understand how Gene Wilder was in this film. The incredibly personal story line of the intense struggle of infertility and in- vitro fertilization after losing his wife the year prior to cancer after experiencing years of infertility. That is the aspect I take most from this film. I gain more respect for Wilder as an actor for being able to endure such a plot that so closely resembles his own life.

While certainly not one of anyone's favorite comedies, there is an amount of sweetness to this film. Gene Wilder is an "edgy" cartoon strip writer - though as the viewer you're rolling your eyes as a conservative or a liberal - that becomes very desirous of having a baby with his new wife, Christine Lahti. When things don't biologically work out, they break up and Wilder finds himself in a relationship with Mary Stuart Masterson. Eventually, that doesn't work out either and Wilder realizes that Lahti means more to him as a wife than what a baby can bring to their relationship. End of story. The cons are evident in the film - simplistic story, no real depth of any character, no "laugh out loud" scene, no dewy-eyed scene. The script is mundane, the humor is flat. The best you'll get is a smile. The pros are few, but speak volumes to the main three actors. Firstly, Wilder is pitch perfect as usual - completely at ease in his character. Lahti gives a fine performance, elegant and sweet. Masterson - such a beautiful and amazingly talented actress - is wonderful in her strong-willed yet completely vulnerable character. Finally, Nimoy must be given credit for the pacing of the movie by keeping the scenes quick and fun. While the movie is long on relationships, it is short on character and development thereof. The easy-come-easy-go of the Wilder/Lahti, Wilder/Masterson relationships simply demand the viewer to not only accept but understand. While the viewer can certainly understand the situations, the viewer never sees the nuts and bolts that drive them. For me, this was the most frustrating part of the film. Overall, not great, but not bad, either - light and airy.