I Ought to Be in Pictures

What's a daughter to do when she wants to get in touch with her father who she hasn't seen in 16 years and lives 3,000 miles away? Answer: watch this movie and find out. It would be easy to rag this movie, to cite all its flaws, to point out its corniness, to dwell on Dinah Manoff's incredibly loud performance; to emphasize all the schlock, dreck, schmoozing and kvetching that identifies this movie as another example of 'ethnic" humor. Yes, one could easily rag this movie, but I won't do it. Not here, not in this website, not on the pc. Why? Let me tell you: I LIKED THIS MOVIE!!!!! Yes, I admit it. THIS WAS A GOOD MOVIE!!!!. So what if the acting was a bit strained! So what if the story was as stale as a corn beef sandwich that's been sitting in the refrigerator all night! This movie is a about a father and daughter who re-establish a relationship and that's something that cannot be ragged. No way. So what if the daughter talks with a certain ethnic inflection! So what if Walter Matthau reminded me of Oscar Homolka in "I Remember Momma." So what if this movie contains what has to be Ann-Margret's most forgettable role!! So what if this movie is like a pastrami sandwich with a lot of fat!!! So what if this movie's most inspiring character is a deceased grandmother!!!! I liked this movie and you will too if you just keep an open mind and remember: IT'S JUST A MOVIE!!!

I Ought to Be In Pictures was mostly boring. It's about a teenager who goes from New York to Hollywood for acting in the film business and also to be in touch with her dad that she hasn't seen since she was three years old because of a divorce. The relationships weren't anything memorable and there were a few laughs and it kind of ended how it began where not much was accomplished. I was hoping for better because the screenplay is by Neil Simon and the director is Herbert Ross who also directed Simon's The Sunshine Boys with Walter Matthau also in it. Ann-Margret plays Walter's girlfriend and while the performances did their best, the script isn't about much.

what an outstanding and heart-tugging performance by DINAH. i never miss a rerun and go out of my way to see it. i can't believe she was not nominated for something. a perfect bit of acting by her and WALTER MATHAU. my wife says, "i guess you're.... just in love". the first time i saw the film was totally by accident. i was in a dentist's office for an appointment for teeth cleaning. the movie came on in the waiting room and after it was thirty minutes into filming the nurse came out and said "next". by a stroke of luck it was the last appointment of the day. i asked the dentist, who is also a dear friend, to let me continue watching. well, we both watched. the nurse had gone and he worked on my cleaning himself. he said it was worth it.

It must have been a casting no-brainer to put Dinah Manoff in the film-adaptation of Neil Simon's Broadway hit "I Ought To Be In Pictures" since she played the part of headstrong Libby on the stage. Unfortunately, a bombastic concoction such as Libby cannot be easily transferred to the more intimate medium of film, and the writing leaves both Manoff and the viewer at a complete loss. Neil Simon writes gag-dialogue, gag-characters, gag-situations, so when he tries to get serious--the audience doesn't know how to respond. Is this guy kidding again? Libby moves from Brooklyn to Los Angeles to reconnect with her estranged screenwriter father, ostensibly to break into movies but mostly because she needs a loving dad to hold her. These later scenes are so uncomfortable, so static, that poor Walter Matthau can only sit on the end of the bed and gape (I've never seen him at such a loss). Ann-Margret has a warm, grounded presence as Matthau's girlfriend (it's not much of a role, and the dialogue is still in Simon's one-note, but A-M manages to give this woman some soul). Manoff, looking and acting like a cross between Tatum O'Neal and Kristy McNichol, projects to the rafters, as if she were still on Broadway. She's Gussy Gumshun; and when the barriers come down and she's vulnerable, we would like to give her our sympathies, but Simon won't let us. He has already moved on, to the next limp gag. ** from ****

The problem with this film was that it was a rotten play to begin with. It's the same old Neil Simon characters, same old Neil Simon storylines. For Matthau, this is the same Neil Simon characterization as with his previous ventures into Simon's work. He's much better as Oscar in "The Odd Couple." Ann Margaret is entirely out of place here, but so is the writing and Herbert Ross's direction. Only Dinah Manoff, who reprises her Tony Award winning role, comes off successful in the picture.