They Went That-A-Way & That-A-Way

This is one of those movies that I remember seeing when I was a kid. It was old fashioned slap-stick that made us goofy pre-teens laugh our butts off. I have always loved Tim Conway, and this is one of his prime examples of comic genius. Tim is fantastic with his timing and those goofy looks on his face. You know what's coming next, but you don't care because you know it will be funny, whatever it is. The part I remember the most is when he and his partner are dressed as a man and a woman and they have some kind of can that they're carrying that has something to do with them getting out of prison, I'm not sure how. Tim keeps yelling "My wife! The can!" and the host of the party keeps telling him that the bathroom is in the house. I love this movie for the good laughs but even more for the memories of that time in my life. Me and my buddies going to the movies, yuckin' it up and not caring about a thing in the world.

Gosh, & Conway even wrote this one himself. It's fun being able to predict what is gonna be happening. I was laughing hysterically throughout this thing. It was also fun seeing so many old comedians jammed into one flick from over 30 years ago. People who read my IMDb comments know that errors in plot-logic usually annoy me but, no, this is simply funny. I'd say it ran out of steam near the very end but, heck, I'd already laughed a gazillion times by then. The only sad thing is that I have actually worked with guys like Dewey (but I'm not as humorous as McCann). Just think how wonderful a world we would live in if prison farms were really like this. 'Certainly not as depressing as those "realistic" crime dramas I usually watch, eh? I wonder if this would make a good date movie.

Still another DVD from Wal-Mart's bargain bin, it's a two-for-the-price-of-one deal, featuring THE LONGSHOT on side one. THEY WENT THAT-A-WAY was the better of the two. Several scenes stand out-among them: Tim Conway is forced to perform dentistry on Warden "Gunner" Warden; Conway and Chuck McCann trying to convince the Warden that they don't really belong in prison and would he lend them his vehicle so they can get to the Governer's mansion; and the scene where they hijack a hearse to take them there.

Catch this one if you can.

Rating: ****1/2 out of *****

LOVE tim conway! Loved his solo bits, loved him on carol burnett. He wrote and starred in this, but had others direct. And apparently there were two directors, but I haven't been able to find the reason why; the two directors both lived another twenty years, so not sure what the problem was. Partners dewey and wallace are sent undercover to try to get information from a rough, tough inmate, already in prison. Of course, they say and do all the wrong things, which get them in more trouble. Can they ever get back out, or will they be there forever? It's fun. Pretty silly, and slow at times, but if you have patience, and are a big fan of conway, you'll get some laughs. Reni santoni steals the show as the correction officer. And you'll recognize richard kiel.. he was jaws in james bond. Script could have used some juicing up. Many of the jokes are situational humor, so you have to pay attention sometimes to see it. Other times, it's brutally obvious! Lots of silly slapstick humor, and much of it is pretty dated. I can forgive much of that, since it was made back in 1978, and I've always been a big conway fan.

Stories of incompatible duos are a common sight, but "They Went That-A-Way & That-A-Way" is still really funny. It's basically what would happen if Gilligan and the Skipper or Laurel and Hardy were cops. Chuck McCann is the competent but grouchy one while Tim Conway is the friendly but stupid one. Posing as cons in a prison to get info out of an inmate, they cause all sorts of silliness. It gets particularly goofy towards the end when they try to contact the new governor. Not any kind of special movie, but just some plain old fun laughs, mainly since Conway's character always tries too hard to be sociable to the hardened criminals.

Also starring Richard Kiel, Dub Taylor (Michael J. Pollard's father in "Bonnie and Clyde"), Reni Santoni, Lenny Montana (Luca Brasi in "The Godfather") and Grace Zabriskie.