Ma femme est dingue

Barbra Streisand shines as a woman helping her husband (Michael Sarrazin) get through school, whatever it takes. What takes place is very funny because he has no idea what she does all day as he's working as a cab driver in New York City. She keeps all of her hilarious misdeeds from him, hoping to be able to make the money he needs for school. She'll do anything...all for Pete's sake. My rating: 8

Struggling financially, a young couple needs quick cash to invest in pork bellies, prompting the wife to concoct a series of wild schemes to raise the cash. This is basically a vehicle for Streisand to engage in some zaniness, trying to duplicate the success of "What's Up, Doc?" a couple of years earlier. Unlike the latter film, however, this one does not have a particularly inspired script. Babs tries hard, but is unable to raise the material beyond a level of mild amusement. To pay off loan sharks, she goes through a series of jobs, including prostitution (taken rather lightly), each meant to setup hilarious situations but the payoff isn't there.

The first 30 minutes or so of "For Pete's Sake" are amusingly on-target: Brooklyn housewife Barbra Streisand drops her husband off at work on their motorcycle and then pops a wheelie; she proceeds to forge a battle of the bills with the grocery store cashier, the insurance company, the banker, and the telephone company exec (Anne Ramsey, pre-"Throw Momma From The Train"). All this time, Streisand is in terrific comedic form, her expressions more and more incredulous. A dinner with her husband's relatives is equally funny, but "Pete" starts to give out somewhere after this. Barbra can't pay back loan sharks and has to work as a prostitute, a bomb deliverer and a cattle rustler. This last job gives the movie its big slapstick scene, which was a groaner even in 1974. Clearly a rip-off of Streisand's "What's Up, Doc?", it features a stampede of cows down the Columbia backlot accompanied by some of the silliest "country" music I've ever heard. If the filmmakers had kept the movie on a grounded level--and kept Streisand as the perfect Everywoman--this might have been a dead-on satire of the ailing economy. As it is, it's passable fluff. **1/2 from ****

This is one of the funniest comedies that Barbara Streisand ever made. To me this is an updated version of "I Love Lucy" only updated to fit the 1970's. Also, the assortment of mobsters, madames and underworld types makes this film even more funny. Also, Estelle Parsons role as Pete's bitchy sister in law is a scream. Too bad Henrietta didn't just pop her one.

Pete (Michael Sarrazin) and Henrietta Robins (Barbra Streisand) are a Brooklyn couple with money problems. Cab driver Pete hears a tip on pork bellies from his dispatcher and the couple decides to buy the futures. Nobody is willing to lend them the money and Henrietta goes to a loan shark in secret. When the debt comes due, she has to work in increasingly weirder jobs while hiding it from her husband.

It starts poor. Henry is not particularly that appealing. The pork bellies McGuffin does not taste good. I didn't like this movie at first and didn't know where it was going. Then it starts to get edgier and then it gets weirder. The silliness gets funny. Streisand is able to do stupid comedy and she eventually gets there. The movie should start silly and forget about the pork bellies. Pete is a bit of wet blanket but he does get into a funny screwball situation with a judge. This is good for a few giggles in the second half.