Gioco sleale

Likable comedy murder mystery. Gloria Mundy (Goldie Hawn) gets involved with an assassination attempt. Cop Chevy Chase is hired to protect her. There's more to the plot but that's the basics.

This is a beautiful movie--shot on location in San Francisco. The stars are likable; the script is interesting, if all little too confusing and there are many funny--and suspenseful--moments throughout. I saw this back in 1978 and loved it and it still holds up beautifully. A lot of people says this plagiarizes Hitchcock. It does a little but it's so entertaining it doesn't really matter.

Chase is good in his first film after leaving "Saturday Night Live" and Hawn is just delightful. There's also strong support from Burgess Meredith, Brian Dennehy and Dudley Moore. Also there are some beautiful shots of San Francisco all through the movie. And it starts off great with the Barry Manilow song "Ready To Take A Chance Again". Just basically a great big fun commercial film. Well worth catching. I'm only giving it a 9 because it IS a little too long.

I saw this film when I was nine years old. And I loved it. From the opening shot of Goldie Hawn's VW bug driving along to Barry Manilow's "Ready to Take a Chance Again" to the Pope tapping his foot to "Three Little Maids From School Are We," this movie is pure entertainment. What makes it so funny is it seems an exercise in lateral thinking. A snake that eats cigarettes? An albino hit man? Billy Barty? I love the music in this film and watching Dudley Moore sing "I feel the earth move under my feet" ... while he tries to seduce Hawn, who was the very model of wholesome cuteness in the '70s and '80s. Her pairing with Chase gave us some of the funniest shows of the era. (I also enjoy "Seems Like Old Times.") The only downside to this film - if you see it when you're an impressionable child, you'll always be wondering if someone will stab you through the theater seat. Argh!

Goldie Hawn gives a delicious comic performance as a San Francisco librarian who's been living like a hermit, encouraged by a friend to get out there and shake her pom-poms; instead, she becomes indirectly involved with a pack of nefarious criminals who plan to assassinate the Pope (!) on his visit to the Opera House. The picture has some real ringers (Dudley Moore and his apartment full of sex toys, two little old ladies playing Dirty Scrabble), but Hawn is very appealing, especially while sitting in a movie theater with her black-rimmed glasses watching a film-noir about a detective and a Chinese sailor. Chevy Chase, in his debut as a leading man following his departure from "Saturday Night Live", plays the lovestruck cop on the case and he's very green; some of his lines fall flat (especially a tasteless bit about a government official wearing make-up), however his love scenes with Goldie are low-keyed and sweet. The bungled car-chase finale is a complete waste, yet the movie is buoyed by a terrific supporting cast, including funny Billy Barty, handsome Brian Dennehy (who gets lost in the action), scene-stealing Burgess Meredith and kinky, salacious Rachel Roberts (as "Delia Darrow"). A fitfully fun time. *** from ****

After reading the Maltin summary, I was a little afraid to rent this movie. Tasteless? I'd loved watching it as a kid on TV (I think I saw it about six times). But a lot of comedies don't make it past their decade.

Foul Play does better than most. It's the characters that make it. Imagine a feminist librarian warning Goldie Hawn about men by telling her "Really, honey, you gotta drag yourself into the seventies!"

Goldie Hawn plays her role sweetly.

The Dudley Moore slapstick didn't delight me as much as when I was a kid (it's a little broad).

The writer and director, Colin Higgins, is known for Harold and Maude. This film doesn't measure up to that one, but it still has a lot of the same touches. In particular, it's the human side of the humor. I laughed at the characters AND liked them.

Once the film leaves the characters for the action, it's not as much fun. The carchase ending drags on a bit too long.

All in all, a sweet movie. Great fun if you'd like to "drag yourself into the seventies."

Chevy Chase is not a great comedian, at least not anymore, but at one point in his career he WAS funny. He had talent. This film proves it. Although most of us today remember him fondly as the dad from the "Vacation" movies, he plays a different type of character here, and it is effective. He's still humorous (I've never seen him play a 100% serious dramatic role) but less stupid than usual, and his character - a police officer - calls for a more realistic attitude.

He's assigned to help Goldie Hawn's character in the film, who is being pursued by an albino and the Catholic church after a microchip is given to her by a dying man on the street. After a failed assassination attempt, she calls the police, but only Chase believes her.

Hawn lives in an apartment building maintained by the late Burgess Meredith. This was two years after the success of "Rocky" and Meredith was making a name for himself with the younger crowds. The film, as a result, lends him a solid role that he fulfills.

The film isn't an uproarious comedy but it is very entertaining and occasionally quite funny. Best viewed late at night on the weekend.