Foolin' Around

The fact that this little gem of a movie isn't on DVD in an age when every bad film ever made had met it's digital home is a crime against cinephiles everywhere. I loved this movie as a kid and still have it on VHS but it is very worn and needs to have a DVD upgrade very soon.

You have an all-star cast, a whip-smart script and one of the most underrated performances of Tony Randall's career. What more are you people waiting for.

If you get a chance and happen to come across a VHS copy at your local video store, do yourself a favor and pick it up. It is well worth your time, for Tony Randall if nothing else.

Back in like 1982, before we had real cable, my dad had a single cable channel! Remember those days they played the same movies for a month and after midnight soft core x rated films. Nonetheless, I saw this film one sat. afternoon. It is absolutely hilarious and I cannot believe more folks have not seen it. If you like the south park guys, this is a good show to see where they learned some of the off color comedy. I have to say that if you like comedy and surprises you should ck. it out. I have been trying to find it recently. I am sure ebay will be a good bet. I have nothing but good things to say regarding this film. Gary Busy's best! Anette O' tooles awesome. I have nothing but great things to say about the Tony Randall character. Also the end lines from his character are classic.

This little seen film, which I caught for the first time over twenty years ago, is a wonderful throwback to 1930's screwball comedy in more ways than one. Young hick (Busey) starts college at the University of Minnesota, and falls in love with debutante O'Toole, despite her mother's intentions to marry her to society dolt Calvin. What ensues are a series of pratfalls and slapstick bits that, while not terribly deep, are nonetheless quite funny. More importantly, Busey and O'Toole are so damn likeable, you really do want them to fall in love.

But, like all great 1930s comedies, what makes the film sparkle is not the lead performances (in the 30s, these were usually played by likeable ingenues without much depth), but by the character actors who formed the background for the story. This film is no different in that the film is practically stolen from the leads by three splendid supporting performances -- Cloris Leachman as O'Toole's society-conscious mother, Eddie Albert as O'Toole's crusty grandfather and Busey's boss, and especially Tony Randall as Leachman's butler. Randall's performance deserves special note because his stiff demeanor is beautifully contrasted with his profane and off-color dialogue (the final words we hear from him, behind closed doors, almost made me fall off my chair laughing).

While no masterpiece, this is a wonderful picture to watch if you'd like a brief look at a long lost style of filmmaking.

This movie is an enjoyable experience from start to finish. Two all time great comedic moments in movie history are in this jewell. Tony Randall steals the show with his portrayal of Cloris Leachman's butler at the engagement party and Busey's thinking out loud comments on answering questions while he has has been summoned to fix an air conditioning problem.

The movie has it all... a little romance, a little comedy, great character development, good acting, but most of all, a great script.

The editing is above average, good locations and even the chase scene at the end has its thrills. Look for William H. Macy in the beginning.

Why can't Hollywood make more movies like this one?

"Foolin' Around" is one of those films that harkens back to 1930s screwball comedy, and that knows enough not to take itself too seriously. Likewise, it knows one of the key lessons of such comedies -- get likeable leads together with wonderful supporting actors to make the genre work.

Busey (one of my favorite actors when he's on his game) plays a good ol' boy who's going to the University of Minnesota who falls in love with fellow coed O'Toole. Despite the fact that she's ostensibly spoken for (with obnoxious boor Calvin), a romance blooms between the two of them, not the least because her grandfather (Eddie Albert, in an extremely fun character performance) sees in Busey a lot of the same blue collar roots and values that brought him to the top. Busey is wonderfully likeable (as he usually is) as is O'Toole, but it is Albert, Cloris Leachman (as O'Toole's status-conscious mother) and Tony Randall (hilarious as their stiff-as-a-board butler) that really get into the screwball spirit. Randall's efforts to keep track of a mysteriously disappearing and reappearing bag and his (off-screen) sex scene with Leachman are among the many highlights in this film.

On a one-to-ten scale, this film definitely hits a 7 1/2.