THE IN-LAWS 1979
Directed by Arthur Hiller
Starring Peter Falk, Alan Arkin, Richard Libertini, Nancy Dussault, Penny Peyser, Arlene Golonka, Michael Lembeck, Paul L. Smith, Ed Begley Jr., David Paymer, Rosanna DeSoto, Art Evans, John Hancock, Barbara Dana, Sammy Smith, Dann Kwan, and James Hong
Genre: (Audio clip)
It's kinda crazy rewatching this now realizing just how ahead of its time much of the humor actually was.....this was full-on "cringe comedy" a full 20 years before it became a mainstream force in movies like Meet the Parents or TV shows like "The Office." And what drives SO much of that humor is simply the unique interplay between two legendary character actors with the the most unique faces AND voices!
I'm referring to the late great Peter Falk playing Vince, a quirky, semi-rogue CIA agent who is attempting to bring down a criminal conspiracy to destroy the value of Western currency....and the late great Alan Arkin playing Sheldon (though Vince ALWAYS calls him "Shelly") a seemingly mild-mannored NY dentist whom Vince ropes into his increasingly dangerous agent activities. And of course the looming event which initually brings these two together is that their children (Vince's son, Sheldon's daughter) are about to get married....hence the title. ;)
There are literally nothing BUT awkward interactions between them for most this film's breezy 105 minute runtime, resulting in much of the cringe comedy but here's what's most interesting about the pairing (well despite the obvious differences in height and demeanor): Vince is the "funny man" who says most of the more nuttier things whereas Sheldon is the "straight man" who is more often reacting....and yet it's almost always Arkin's Shelley who we hear raising his voice. Seriously Arkin has some genuine blow-ups along the way which are among THE funniest ever put to screen. When Shelly loses his calm, he really LOSES it! 😆
Just watch Arkin's performance early on as Vince is calmly explaining the overall conspiracy he's trying to take down...yet manages to subtly dig the knife in further just off-handedly mentioning that he has also gone rogue to do this. Shelly is not only repeating the things Vince tells him loudly but loudly EXPLAINING them back to him in excruciating detail so that every surrounding patron at the crowded Manhattan coffee shop can also hear them. 😜 And as Vince methodically works to calm him down carefully explaining how Sheldon will NOT be implicated in this, he just HAS to let it slip out that he planted one key stolen engraving at Shelly's house the night before when they first met for dinner. Falk's keeping it deadpan but Arkin can only explode again, once again....bellowing to every one in earshot that...
"The central piece of evidence in the biggest Federal crime since the Atomic Spy Case is sitting in my basement, YOU WANNA KNOW WHY I'M GETTING EXCITED?!?!"
So in response, we see Falk just more QUIETLY deadpan how this will all be resolved soon...he's not only whispering this but also comically insists on just referring to it as "the thing" while he winks to Shelley....because apparently making a futile effort NOW to quietly speak in code is going to undo the ten minutes of histrionics which just preceded this.
Falk deadpans, Arkin reacts....Falk explains, Arkin screams....rinse repeat....it's the basic formula to their relationship. It even persists throughout this story ALL the way to a nutso climax which has their characters basically repeating this formula but now talking over each other....and in front of a firing squad which is about to execute them! And it never gets old and it's ALWAYS funny. :)
Beyond that, veteran director Arthur Miller (Love Story, Outrageous Fortune, Silver Streak) also does an adept job of keeping the story breezily moving forward and never feeling repetitive as we follow these characters to a series of interesting locations and unexpected situations. And the cast is populated throughout with some notable scene stealers from YOUNG David Paymer (FULL head of curly hair ALMOST looking like Carmy from The Bear if you can buy that 😃) giving a nice acid turn as a cab driver who deftly explains the importance of "The Price Is Right" to Vince....to the invaluable Richard Libertini who seems to be taking a page out of the John Lithgow crazy/tall playbook by going comically unhinged as General Garcia, the big boss at the top of this conspiracy whom we meet in the final act. His dictator character takes a potentially pervy hand-puppet act ABOUT as far as you can within a PG-rated comedy, delivering JUST the right amount of laughs in the process!
And finally, major props have to go to comedy-master writer Andrew Bergman (Blazing Saddles, Fletch, The Freshman, Soapdish) for delivering a finely tuned, well-structured screenplay loaded to the gills with so many great lines from "I have FLAMES on my car!" to "These flies....they're protected against pilferage under the provisions of the Guacamole Act of 1917" to THE true comic zenith of this comedy classic...which I’ll get to in just a bit….
Best Needle-drop (best song cue or score used throughout runtime of film):
I’ll say this about the musical score for this film…..it is VERY much of its time. Sometimes frenetic, often bouncy, and even sometimes a bit wistful…your enjoyment of it likely depends on just how much personal affection and nostalgia you have for this movie. The music was composed by Elizabeth, New Jersey’s OWN John Morris – not an extensive IMDB but apparently he WAS Mel Brooks’ main go-to-guy crafting music for just about every Brooks’ comedy from The Producers in ’67 ALL the way through Life Stinks in ’91….with some other notable scores sprinkled throughout including Clue, Dirty Dancing, AND The Elephant Man which he received an Oscar nomination for. I could find any of it online except for the opening and closing credits…and as for me personally, I have always found it quite hummable. (Audio clip)
Wasted Talent (most under-utilized talent involved with film):
Oh right, there was a 2003 remake of this movie….from promising comedy writer/director Andrew Fleming as HIS follow-up to one of the most underrated comedies of the ‘90’s AND future episode Dick….strong cast too lead by Michael Douglas AND Albert Brooks who I THINK was pretty inspired to take the mantle from Alan Arkin. And while I’m not opposed to remakes as there are several EXCELLENT ones which I feel actually improve upon the original including previous episodes The Thing and Scarface….Fincher’s The Girl With the Dragon and even most recently, A Star Is Born…..well sorry but this was NOT on the quality of those, not even close. Despite the talent involved, it was pretty much a dud as I could remember BARELY getting through it. So yeah, stick to the original.
Trailer Moment (scene or moment that best describes this movie):
As I mentioned earlier, what is arguably both the most exciting AND funniest sequence occurs about an hour into the story. Our heroes have arrived in the mysterious banana republic of Tijada. They have just gotten on the runway where they are enthusiastically greeted by a local politician when suddenly…. (Audio clip)
And what results is a scramble to avoid being shot as they try to nab said official’s car to get out of dodge and ONE word becomes key as they each take defensive measures to avoid being shot… (Audio clip)
Of course that word would be "Serpentine!" repeated by both main characters as they comically scramble in different directions…..at one point we even see Shelley run back AWAY from the car with keys in hand JUST because Vince reminded him to serpentine. :) It says a lot about just how great Arkin and Falk were together that I can never nail down who actually says it funnier....it's simply comedy GOLD coming out of either of their mouths. (Audio clip)
MVP (person or people most responsible for the success of this film):
Bottom line, the success of this film comes down to sterling work from two genuine PROS here who are so effortless about it – the banter, the slapstick, the reactions - they just bring such a natural rhythm to it that you could compare their comedy pairing to that of a brilliant sports pairing....akin to legendary NBA duos like Jordan & Pippen, Wilt & West, or Magic & Kareem. 🤔 For utilizing their legendary chops and distinct voices towards simply making you laugh through a series of awkward situations, Peter Falk and Alan Arkin are your CO-MVP’s. (Audio clip)
Final Rating: 5 stars out of 5
In case it wasn’t already obvious, I unabashedly LOVE this movie – it’s not among my all-time favorites but I can comfortably rank it among THE funniest films from the 1970’s…..maybe even THE funniest. If you haven’t seen it, why wait ANY further….and just in time for Father’s Day no less! Happy 45th Anniversary to an All-Time Dad movie!
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And that ends another SERPENTINE….review!
