Illegally Yours

This is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. This, in my opinion, is Rob Lowe at his best. I'm not quite sure why this film has gotten such a low rating. I guess you either love it or hate it, but if nothing else, it is definitely worth a rental.

One of the great pleasures of the movie business is finding a forgotten treasure that you had forgotten about or didn't know existed. This picture is just wonderful and is an excellent addition to the Bogdanovich oeuvre. Which brings up the question - where is he and why isn't he working? The Johnny Cash songs were just terrific as well.

That quote is from P.J. O'Rourke's guide to hosting a party in his classic work, "The Bachelor's Home Companion". To me, it pretty much sums up the appeal (what there is of it) of this film. Or to put it another way, in his effort to construct a "screwball comedy", Bogdonovich kept throwing things at the wall in the hopes that some of them would stick.Fortunately, some things do.

Nothing about "Illegally Yours" is particularly inspired (in fact most of it is strained and contrived), and no one in it is particularly great at comedy...the best most of the actors can muster is a kind of wide-eyed incredulity. But the plot throws so many twists and turns at the viewer, and there are so many rapid-fire "bon-mots" and quirky lines and bad puns that eventually the movie reduced me to a state of mild bemusement...and after the movie had been hitting me over the head with "funny funny funny" for 40-50 minutes. I gave in and actually snorted with laughter once and chuckled a couple of other times. I even guffawed once. Just once, but that's still better than anything Ben Stiller has been able to do since "Mystery Men".

I think it was easier for American filmmakers impress American audiences with screwball humor before Monty Python,Red Green,"Black Adder","Fawlty Towers" and similar imports caught on here. In comparison to Pythonesque and Newhartesque whimsy and wordplay, this movie's script is a bit stodgy and leaden. But it's still mildly funny even today, and none of the players (even Rob Lowe, who I've never liked) have anything to be ashamed of here.

Do not skip your fiftieth viewing of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" to see "Illegally Yours", but if IY is on opposite something dull and unfunny like "Gone Fishing", you may want to check it out.

Director Peter Bogdanovich seemed to have it all at one point early in his career, but I can't imagine a worse string of pictures than "At Long Last Love", "Nickelodeon", "Daisy Miller" and "Texasville", not to mention this one, a dud meant for theaters but relegated to dusty bins at the video store. Rob Lowe, outfitted to look like either Cary Grant or perhaps egomaniac Bogdanovich, stumbles around as a juror smitten with murder-suspect Colleen Camp. Camp, as proved in "They All Laughed" (a Bogdanovich bright spot), has the knack for screwball antics, but her character here is too brash and she fails to click with Lowe, whose bumbling is forced--to say the least. The convoluted plot hangs together by a thread, not helped by a bunch of "lovable" dopes in the supporting cast (including future Mrs. Bogdanovich, L.B. Straten). Cheeky, yes. Successful, no. *1/2 from ****

This is a good movie with plenty of comedy and action. Yes Colleen Camp is fun and funny and so is Rob Lowe. The Canuck is another entertaining gem. There are a few illogical twists toward the end but otherwise it is a wonderful movie. Anyone that loves Colleen Camp will love the movie.