Quoi de neuf Bob?

It might be a little simplistic to call this "Bill Murray's Movie",because in truth,this film works just as well because it has a fantastic support from Richard Dreyfuss,Julie Haggerty,Charlie Korsmo,KAthryn Erbe and director Frank Oz. Still,you cannot watch this film without feeling like Murray's complete abandon in this film is what gives this film its pep,spark and life. This might be one of the more energized performances of his long and well-padded career.

Dr.Leo Marvin(Dreyfuss,who has settled into being the 'Uptight fuddy-dudd' roles from here,as opposed to the more restive,youthful roles of past movies like "Jaws" and "Goodbye Girl")seems to have it all. Loving wife,healthy,normal kids and a career that is on the verge of taking off:a comfortable private practice in New York and a self-help book about to be published nationwide. At the last minute,he accepts another colleague's patient(for whom he does not wonder as to why his peer is so breathlessly trying to pass this patient off to him):one Bob Wiley(Murray). Bob doesn't have anything wrong with him;he has MANY things wrong with him. Multiphobic,clingy and more than a little under-developed in his sense of emotional attachment,Bob misreads the good doctor's brush off(As the doctor gets ready for a Labor Day getaway with his famille)as being a cure-all,and is immediately smitten with the doctor's methods,approach,diagnosis and treatment. He decides he's going to insinuate himself into Dr.Marvin's life(in somewhat of a mixture of gratitude and need),and follows him to the rural,New England lakeside vacation where the Marvins are staying.

Alvin Sargent and Laura Ziskin's story and script make the actors' moves and lines so easy you'd almost think there were elements of improvisation. But Murray and Dreyfuss are(and not to belabor a point here but...)the key here. Murray's socially oblivious and free sense of bonding clashes DRAMATICALLY with the button-down professionalism of Dreyfuss' doctor,and as Muray thinks himself "Better",Dreyfuss' shrink seems to be getting worse,confounded by his unwanted patient's persistence and loyalty. While the unabashed enthusiasm of Murray's character might drive away some viewers who might see this as "annoying" or "too much", Murray fans and,I think,fans of sort of odd,non-formula comedies will DEFINITELY appreciate the whole story and rhythm of this film. Perhaps it's a bit too early to state this(though this film,which I first caught in the theaters in first release sixteen years ago,has had more than a decade to simmer in the memories of moviegoers),I feel this is something of a modern comedy classic. I've seen this film no less than three times and,to chime in with an IMDb message board poster,this IS a truly re-watchable movie.

l wasn't sure if I wanted to give this movie 7 or 8 points till seeing the last 20 minutes. There Richard Dreyfuss has been in full cry. I needed to laugh so hard, that I am forced to give this movie 8 points. As a movie itself, if I use all criteria I use on other films, this movie would not deserve 8 points. The story is predictable (I knew exactly how it was going to end from the very beginning), camera work, music and characters are not actually special. All has been there before, and was copied again and again afterward. But as a comedy, this movie totally did what it was supposed to do. It was absolutely hilarious!

Sometimes the humor was a bit too silly, and Bill Murray has been overdoing it from time to time - and I still needed to laugh my butt off. Watching the way smaller Dreyfuss beside the tall, dumb looking Bill, screaming and shouting like an angry dwarf, was a way too funny image.

What About Bob features very entertaining performances from both Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss, but I can't help but sympathize with Dr. Leo Marvin. After all, an unstable patient he barely met is entering his home, but everyone else acts as if it's totally fine. It stressed me out a bit. Nevertheless, I was still able to laugh at the absurdity of it all.

Frank Oz directed this comedy that stars Bill Murray as Bob Wiley, a neurotic, needy and lonely man who has seen many psychiatrists, but feels most comfortable with egotistical Leo Marvin(played by Richard Dreyfuss). However, after Dr. Marvin takes a month-long vacation with his family in rural New Hampshire(where he expects to be interviewed by a network morning show) he is stunned to find that Bob has somehow followed him there, and refuses to leave, even ingratiating himself with his wife and children, and that's just the beginning... Amusing comedy with terrific performances, and a most sly premise, which could easily have been turned into a suspense thriller involving stalking!

Gee,...considering this is probably Bill Murray's funniest comedy and it is rated so poorly, no wonder he's recently taken to making odd and very unfunny movies. After all, with WHAT ABOUT BOB?, GROUNDHOG DAY and THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO LITTLE, he was responsible for probably three of the top comedies of the 1990s...yet all are rated relatively low on IMDb. I just don't get it.

Bob is one of the most annoying and compulsive patients any psychiatrist can have. He's needy, histrionic and sneaky, so when his brand-new therapist goes on vacation, Bob connives to find Dr. Monroe and vacation with him and the family! Now this stalking behavior isn't particularly funny, but what makes this such a great comedy is that Dr. Monroe is a sanctimonious and pompous jerk and it's fun to watch Bob make Monroe's life miserable!! Plus, unlike some comedies that let up, in this film every time you think things can't get worse for Dr. Monroe--they do!! This makes for a funny and deliciously black film--one that can't help much make you chuckle.

By the way, I was a psychotherapist and now teach psychology instead of work with patients. When the film came out, many of my colleagues were scared to death by the film because it did hit close to home, while others thought it hilarious. Having never had a patient like Bob, I guess it was pretty easy for me to laugh at the whole thing!

I have to go now--I'm about to teach my class about "death therapy".