Illégalement vôtre

One of the great pleasures of the movie business is finding a forgotten treasure that you had forgotten about or didn't know existed. This picture is just wonderful and is an excellent addition to the Bogdanovich oeuvre. Which brings up the question - where is he and why isn't he working? The Johnny Cash songs were just terrific as well.

This tight, consistent, clever script acted by the excellent Rob Lowe and the voluptuous Colleen Camp should have resulted in a 1980s WHAT'S UP DOC? Sadly, Lowe is no Ryan O'Neal, and Colleen Camp, while lovely to look at, shows why she typically plays the Friend and not the Leading Lady in her many films. Still, good direction could have saved the day, but Bogdanovich is no less miscast than his actors. The sense of comedic timing, so crucial to this or any type of comedy, is sorely lacking here. Possibly the lion's share of the blame should lie with the film editor, but the director is ultimately responsible for the failure of this film.

On the other hand, Colleen Camp gets more screen time in ILLEGALLY YOURS than in any film I can remember, so fans wishing to see more of her will want to view this flick. Rob Lowe fans, on the other hand, will find it more profitable to spend their time on his other, much better performances.

While this movie may not be a show-stopping classic, it is funny and has an entertaining plot. Rob Lowe does seem somewhat out of his element here, though he does a good job with what has been given to him. Colleen Camp fans will love this movie, as she is as attractive as ever and we get to see her in a rare leading role. Some silly moments, but overall not a bad film. Some good footage of historic St Augustine as well.

That quote is from P.J. O'Rourke's guide to hosting a party in his classic work, "The Bachelor's Home Companion". To me, it pretty much sums up the appeal (what there is of it) of this film. Or to put it another way, in his effort to construct a "screwball comedy", Bogdonovich kept throwing things at the wall in the hopes that some of them would stick.Fortunately, some things do.

Nothing about "Illegally Yours" is particularly inspired (in fact most of it is strained and contrived), and no one in it is particularly great at comedy...the best most of the actors can muster is a kind of wide-eyed incredulity. But the plot throws so many twists and turns at the viewer, and there are so many rapid-fire "bon-mots" and quirky lines and bad puns that eventually the movie reduced me to a state of mild bemusement...and after the movie had been hitting me over the head with "funny funny funny" for 40-50 minutes. I gave in and actually snorted with laughter once and chuckled a couple of other times. I even guffawed once. Just once, but that's still better than anything Ben Stiller has been able to do since "Mystery Men".

I think it was easier for American filmmakers impress American audiences with screwball humor before Monty Python,Red Green,"Black Adder","Fawlty Towers" and similar imports caught on here. In comparison to Pythonesque and Newhartesque whimsy and wordplay, this movie's script is a bit stodgy and leaden. But it's still mildly funny even today, and none of the players (even Rob Lowe, who I've never liked) have anything to be ashamed of here.

Do not skip your fiftieth viewing of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" to see "Illegally Yours", but if IY is on opposite something dull and unfunny like "Gone Fishing", you may want to check it out.

During the 1980s there were a whole series of movies that do not seem to have generated a great amount of publicity but were very entertaining, enjoyable, underrated and are presently of great nostalgic value. `Illegally Yours' definitely falls within this category.

Rob Lowe provides an excellent performance as the somewhat eccentric but nevertheless very amusing Richard Dice. The whole of the cast follows this high standard and quality of acting and their combined performances contribute a dimension of entertainment and enjoyment to this movie. The script is also quite interesting for a considerable period of time and the style and the format of this movie also enhances this quality. I would definitely rate this movie highly and provide it with a 9/10