Descalços no Parque

Redford and Fonda should get a kissy-face Oscar for the most lingering lip-smackers on movie record.

The comedy's premise reminds me of one of those WWII madcaps, where wartime conditions prompt an unlikely couple into quick marriage and barebones apartment. The idea's rich in comedic material so no wonder it keeps coming back. On their honeymoon, stodgy lawyer husband (Redford) is overwhelmed by sexy free-spirited wife (Fonda). She can't get enough kissy-face or sex, while he struggles between lawyerly duties and a burgeoning libido. Meanwhile, she oozes over their cramped apartment, six long flights up, while he's too smothered over to object. Things bumble along until complications take their toll.

I love it when goofy neighbor Boyer takes the married couple and Fonda's straight-laced mother (Natwick) to a run-down Albanian eatery. It may be seedy on the outside but on the inside it's a vibrant bohemian paradise. Of course, Fonda and Boyer are in their element, real swingers, while the two conventional types can barely endure. In fact, Redford's quiet discomfort as he sits at the noisy round table amounts to a triumph of low-key expression. And catch it when the belly dancer smothers his unhappy face in her ample breasts. Edelman also scores as the drooping telephone guy. It's like, time and again, he's having to climb Mt. Everest with a heavy load. In fact, the movie milks that 6-long-flights-up, but still gets laughs from a sweaty cast. I can imagine what the auditions were like.

Anyway, the movie's first two-thirds is full of such inventive comedic moments that had me thinking "real classic". But then, much too abruptly, Fonda's sparkly role shifts and the prevailing mood goes with it. Same thing with Redford's conventional personality. That is, he goes from stodgy to goofy and she goes from ditzy to crabby. In short, they suddenly swap roles in unconvincing fashion, even for what is now a serio-comedy. In my book, the change over is too clumsily handled to maintain comedic momentum, and a potential classic is lost. Nonetheless, on balance, the movie's still lively entertainment, full of bright moments, and worth catching up with.

(In passing- I suspect the moral to the story, if such can be said, is that without some common ground even the best offbeat relationship can't last.)

This film version of one of Neil Simon's early Broadway hits coasts on the likability of its cast and a lot of classic Simon banter. The gossamer-thin plot, about newlyweds who find out they don't know each other as well as they thought, is only a framework to hang a bunch of running gags about drafty New York flats, endless stairs, oddball neighbors and the like.

Laughs are plentiful, although as in the rest of Simon's work, one is acutely aware that nobody is so quick with the one-liners in real life.

Boy, were they young back then! Robert Redford underplays charmingly as Paul Bratter, up-and-coming lawyer and all-round stick-in-the-mud; Jane Fonda is his new bride Corie, sexy, fun-loving and relentlessly cute to the borderline of annoyance. When you find her schtick getting a little hard to take, concentrate instead on veteran character actors Charles Boyer and Mildred Natwick, who lend spirit and class to their comedic roles.

Perhaps the direction by Gene Saks is a tad stagebound (he directed the Broadway version), and the cinematography a bit muddy, but Neal Hefti contributes another sprightly score that does a lot to compensate. Overall, an undemanding, undeniable pleasure.

You won't roll on the floor laughing but you won't be sorry you spent 90 minutes with the characters on-screen. Very light and easy to take, brought to a nice level of fun by some very talented actors. Mildred Natwick earned her Oscar nomination; I wonder why Charles Boyer didn't get one, too. Fonda & Redford are both so young its hard to remember they were ever that age.

I lived in a walk-up apartment in Manhattan (fifth floor!)and had to quit smoking so I wouldn't have to have an oxygen tank installed on each floor in order to just make it home every night. I enjoyed reading the 'trivia' section about this movie and find it very interesting that the French version had to change the running joke to the 9th floor; since they are also infamous for smoking, one wonders why elevators were not more popular.

This is just one of those movies that can make you feel better if you've had a bad day. Honestly, it's charming, funny, light and I don't know, just the right amount of comedy and romance. Redford and Fonda are perfect together. This is a truly great comedic performance by Jane Fonda, she's amazing in this movie. Then again I am a stickler for her lighter, funnier work from the 60s. But this one stands out as being genuinely funny and well made. I love all the funny little details, like the tuna fish cans, Robert Redford's comment about "a big cat with a can opener", Jane Fonda's mother, Jane Fonda doing a "Cambodian fertility dance", etc. It is all just too classic for words. Buy this movie if you love 60s cinema and/or its two stars, it's too good.

I must have seen it five times. What a delightful movie, so gentle, so understanding of human nature, so devoid of vulgarity or hard edges. Neil Simon is a jewel. He has single-handedly rescued American cinema from total mediocrity since the mid-sixties. Yes, he has had some weak scripts, but when he's bad, he is never terribly bad. I am glad that as good a writer is so successful. The cream does rise to the top, - once in a million years. Seeing this movie should be mandatory for any couple considering divorce. It shows how silly fights are. Too bad it didn't save Simon's own marriage.

Boyer is priceless as an eccentric bohemian. Everyone is inspired by the script and delivers his or his best performance. Simon makes happiness seem possible, because he knows where it's hiding.