Good Times

If you enjoy off the wall humor, and have a fondness for 60's nostalgia, you will like this movie (in my opinion). I found the film to be good-natured, a bit silly in spots, and touched with a slightly warped sense of humor that held my attention for the relatively short run-time. I just wish that Cher had a larger role in this one, but, I guess (at the time), Sonny was considered the real "talent." Granted, Sonny can't sing very well (especially so when compared to Cher), however, he seems to be having a "good time" making the movies within the movie. The Western spoof is especially entertaining.

This is a guilty pleasure movie. It amused me, made me smile a few times, and that is enough for me to recommend it!

The puppy, the monkeys, the elephants, the crocodile, the lions, the tiger and the horses in this film are all natural so, I would say that they all are playing well. I do not know if I can say the same about Sonny & Cher. Cher's luck is that she looks very good. And both of them, Sonny & Cher, they are singing beautiful songs, very entertaining. George Sanders is George Sanders, big ego, big personality. It is one of the first films of the great William Friedkin. Just a musical without great expectations. The third episode, in which Sonny is a detective, is much more funny than the first two. Watch it only if you don't have anything better to do.

Pop-singing duo (and mod-dressed lovebirds) Sonny & Cher are tapped to star in their own movie, but the couple are distressed over the corny script. Sonny Bono's soundtrack to "Good Times", which he produced and arranged (impeccably so), sounds like the very best of Phil Spector; the songs may give non-fans a glimpse at true musical genius. Unfortunately, all this aural greatness comes at the expense of a wayward, throw-away feature. Sonny & Cher spend most of their time on-screen bickering in a too-real example of marital discord. Debuting director William Friedkin stuffs the proceedings with eye-candy, but he can't get any momentum going in the fantasy scenes and they just peter out. It's a strenuous comedy, the biggest mistake of which was to plunk the leads down in the middle of so much unhappiness. They don't want to make the movie, they're being forced to make the movie, they fight about compromising their ideals about making the damn movie. Only the opening and closing montages are sunny, the rest is much too heavy--even with all that groovy music in the background. ** from ****

Best described at a "camp classic," this series of romps involves a singing duo called Sonny & Cher, played by a singing duo named Sonny & Cher. The film resembles episodes that later made up the "Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour" of 1970s television. The pair spoofs three genres: western, jungle, and detective, so it's a movie starring themselves trying to figure out how to make a movie starring themselves, with the wonderful actor George Sanders as the bad guy. The costumes, the music by Sonny Bono, the songs sung by Cher, and the glimpses at the performances that Cher had yet to deliver make the movie worth watching. They save their famous hit "I Got You Babe" for the very end. My favorite piece of dialogue comes after Sonny says, "Shucks man, I can't sing" and Cher replies, "Don't let that stop you." It never did.

I'm a 60's fan and a Cher fan and I still had trouble getting through this movie. It's a touch of The Sonny & Cher Show, a touch of Laugh-In, a touch of early MTV and a touch of early reality show. This description sounds better than it actually is. It is still fun to watch a young & beautiful Cher in some fab clothes and singing great. She is surprisingly natural in her straight scenes. Sonny plays his scenes like a skit from The Sonny & Cher show or a Carol Burnett sketch. George Saunders looks like he was aging well playing his Allison Dewitt character from All Abot Eve. He committed suicide not long after this movie with one of the most upsetting suicide notes ever written. Sad. I believe the house that they filmed this movie is Sonny & Cher's actual home that they bought from Tony Curtis and had to mortgage to finish this film. I'm still glad I watched the whole film but doubt if I ever will need to see it again.