Bebè mania

I have never before seen a worse movie. It is absolutely horrible. There was nothing redeeming about it - poor acting, poor directing, poor editing, crummy dialogue... need I go on? This is at the TOP of my list of "worst movies of all time." I'm surprised that MST3K didn't find a way to improve it!

Gene Wilder struggles manfully to keep this limp, occasionally lame comedy afloat, but he's quickly defeated by unsure Leonard Nimoy direction, shabby editing and writing. A professional cartoonist falls for an attractive female chef (she can't be much of a chef since his first impression of her food is disgust); after meeting cute, they decide to marry, but frustration soon arrives over their failure to conceive a child. Christine Lahti has a warm, ticklish presence, but her character here is so underwritten we're not sure how we're supposed to feel about her; Mary Stuart Masterson is much better as a fraternity sex-bunny, but she belongs in a different movie (with a different partner) altogether. Based on a magazine article by Bob Greene, the picture is full of comic ideas that don't play and dramatic interludes which wilt without the proper handling. *1/2 from ****

This movie should not have been made. It is the only thing that I have seen Christine Lahti in that failed to entertain me. All I kept thinking of while viewing it was that it would eventually get to the good part. Mary Stuart Masterson was cute and Lahti was her usual beautiful self but nothing could save this disaster. I will give it 2/10 for effort.

Several years after directing "Funny About Love", director Leonard Nimoy admitted that making this movie was a mistake, and put the blame on the script. To a degree, Nimoy was correct. The writing found in this movie is truly bizarre at times. Throughout, characters spout out deranged dialogue that no human being with a reasonable amount of intelligence would say. Also, big chunks of time seem to be missing. For example, when Wilder's character and his wife have their first argument, in the next scene she is packing her bags and planning divorce - huh? I don't know if that's how it was written, or if the editing removed some scenes, but the movie is missing important information.

While most of the blame is with the script (and possibly with the editing), Nimoy has to share some blame for the performances of his actors. More often than not, Nimoy has his cast acting in a very broad manner that makes the deranged dialogue they speak even worse-sounding.

As I indicated in the summary line, this movie is more strange than funny.

Cartoonist Gene Wilder's marriage to Christine Lahti falls apart after they fail to conceive a child, but they manage to get back together after Gene has lots of sex with a younger woman. Love might be funny, but this film is something else entirely. Sure, there are a few laughs, but not enough to make this poorly-structured, badly-directed film work. it's about time for Leonard Nimoy to ask Scotty to beam him up. By the way, the soundtrack sucked too.