Starts off promisingly, but fizzles out about halfway through when it seems as if the screenwriters didn't really know what to do with the situation or characters, making this nowhere near as memorable as it could have been. The cast is first-rate, from Garner on down, but why this sharp, brisk business drama had to turn into a romantic farce (complete with misunderstandings) is a mystery to me. Nina Foch, always very welcome to see, is wasted in an unbelievable role as a hotel manager who develops an unfounded crush on Garner, which messes up his romance with Natalie Wood, yadda yadda. (Also, why the silly narration about what happened in Maine? It was as if the writers felt the audience would be confused by a flashback.) A really good cast given an unfocused script. I have to wonder if the movie wouldn't have been vastly improved by dropping the whole Garner-Wood romantic subplot altogether, and just having it be about businessmen dealing with each other - the cast was certainly good enough to carry that sort of story and make it interesting.

A hot shot business man buys failing businesses and manages to sell them for profit. It seems the filmmakers were going for riveting drama about big business and acquisitions. What they end up with has all the excitement of reading stock quotes. There's endless discussion about business dealings that is not the least bit interesting, which is a shame because this one has a nice cast. Garner is well suited to the title role, although his wardrobe looks rather comical. As his love interest, Wood is not given much to do. The supporting cast features many familiar faces, including Foch, Jagger, Marshall, Jones, Kruger, and Platt.

Natalie Wood drives a beautiful white, 1959 Mercury convertible with the top down and at the end of the movie, she and James Garner drive off in a more beautiful, white 1959 Lincoln Continental also with the top down. As a vintage car collector, I love spotting those beauties in those old films. Hollywood always used convertibles when they could so the actors could be seen on camera much easier without obstructions. Hollywood was also very hard on automobiles over the last 100 years. The director would say, "Ok, when we cut to the chase, I want to run the Duesenburg SJ Roadster off the cliff at the end of the scene. Don't worry, I've allotted for it in the budget." Katharine Hepburn once said, "Getting old is like driving an Edsel with a flat tire."

I watched this solely because James Garner was in it and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Natalie Wood was beautiful! I thought the plot was somewhat hard to swallow - but it shows how much you would do for love! If you like this movie, rent "Wheeler-Dealers" with Mr. Garner and Lee Remick. It is hilarious!