House Calls

Near-wonderful mixture of comedy, romance, and medical chaos has a 50-ish swinging-single doctor, tired of going to rock concerts with nubile airheads, dating a patient his own age whom he met on his rounds. Screenplay by Julius Epstein shows a fair amount of sophistication, though he doesn't have enough material to fill out the picture's last third, and one can almost feel the movie slipping. The subplot about the hospital being investigated for its shoddy business affairs isn't worked out satisfactorily, and it feels highly concocted anyway. Still, Walter Matthau and Glenda Jackson are a terrific team, Richard Benjamin and Art Carney very funny in support. Director Howard Zieff keeps it all popping, and even when Epstein's one-liners feel like Neil Simon rejects, Zieff zips right along happily. The results are dryly engaging and occasionally quite sweet. Followed by a failed TV series. *** from ****

It's a shame House Calls isn't better known. Is it perhaps because the romantic leads are middle-aged, shopworn, and gun-shy, rather than oversexed teen-stars? Could be. If you're over 35, you'll probably get this comedy. If you're over 45, you're really going to get this comedy. If you're 25, wait until you're older to see it.

The unlikely pairing of Matthau and Jackson works precisely because it is so unlikely. There's a wonderful line of Matthau's that sums up what is happening between the two of them--"I like old broads because you don't have to explain who Ronald Colman is." (If that's not the exact line, it's close...)

The premise of a sub-par hospital run by incompetents rings true. Art Carney's portrayal of a senile head surgeon is absolutely brilliant. It is impossible not to laugh out loud at his delivery. Subplots, if you can call them that, are fun too, like the one with Jackson's teenage son and Matthau. Everything hits just exactly the right tone.

Okay, there's the bit where Matthau has to wear women's clothing that's a bit over-the-top and an easy mark. But, still--it's Walter Matthau in drag! It's funny!

HOUSE CALLS was an amusing 1978 comedy about a widowed doctor (Walter Matthau) who now wants to play the field but can't help but be drawn to a patient of his (Glenda Jackson) who refuses to be just another notch on his bedpost. Matthau likes the woman but does not really want to make the commitment that she insists upon so he agrees to date her exclusively for two weeks and then make a decision as to whether or not he wants to commit; however, other complications make it difficult for Matthau to make a decision when the two weeks are up, even though he is clearly in love with the woman. Matthau and Jackson have surprisingly effective chemistry as a screen couple and are given strong support from Richard Benjamin, Candice Azzara, Dick O'Neill, and especially Art Carney as the inept and senile Chief of Staff at the hospital where Matthau is employed. Matthau even has a brief scene with his real-life son, Charlie, who appears as Jackson's son. This engaging comedy still holds up pretty well after all these years. If you've never seen it, it's worth the rental.

A great, small, simple comedy that works because of the terrific cast. And it's not only Glenda Jackson and Walter Matthau but Art Carney and Richard Benjamin. And the story actually works because all the characters are involved. There isn't any arbitrary stories. Matthau meets Jackson because she's made to wear a ridiculous head bandage provided by Carney and Matthau removes it and performs surgery on her. Carney becomes angry/upset over this and blackmails Matthau into supporting him for Chief Resident even though Carney's obviously "crack pot". Jackson and Matthau become lovers but she eventually becomes angry with him for (among other things) not standing up to Carney. That's what makes this an almost perfect film comedy: the characters, plot and situations all seem to spring naturally from the events in the plot. There's nothing forced. And the actors seem to be having a ball.

Matthau and Jackson are superb together.

Pay no attention to dispeptic, angst-ridden critics who find this kind of fare unfunny and out of favor. (Well, maybe it is out of favor.) Who cares, it's funny. House Calls is a thoroughly enjoyable tale of mis-matched, middle-aged singles working their way toward romance (or a loose approximateion thereof). No car chases, space ships, or wild sex antics here. Instead, a cast of likeable people (Matthau, Jackson, Richard Benjamin, et.al.) and the great Art Carney as one of the more incompetent physicians ever portrayed on screen. The film puts a smile on your face and keeps it there. Ambitious? Of course not. The stuff of sitcoms? Yeah (in fact, it became one). Enjoyable? You bet. This is one of those films that reminds you how much fun it can be simply to sit down and be with old friends.