This is a depressing exercise of that mid-sixties genre in which the Greatest Generation skewers the Swinging Sixties and its own middle age at the same time. You've seen it plenty: Mom or Pop makes the scene, does the Frug, and flirts with infidelity, embarrassing the teenage daughter, while humoring her pretentious boyfriend as he spews pseudo-modern, pseudo-intellectual psychobabble. The marriage is in some kind of mid-life jeopardy and we get lots of racy dallying with modern morality before- (surely this is not a genre-wide spoiler!)- reaffirming traditional values in a final clinch. Actually, some of these are kind of fun, and they're nearly always fun to look at and listen to.Not this one.The comic situation here takes way too long to develop, spends a great deal of that time telling you exactly what's going to happen before it happens, and isn't even a little bit funny or believable. Whatever comic opportunities are there just aren't delivered upon, and the pacing is excruciating. The characters are such loose sketches that we aren't tempted to buy them either. Perhaps worst of all, the comic talents of a great cast are wasted, and not just the principles- while Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and a very game Deborah Kerr are striking out, great talent like Reta Shaw, Kathleen Freeman, John McGiver, and Parley Baer are left to ride the bench in a film that's thirty minutes too long.The Scottish mother-in-law and Cesar Romero's shyster, both broadly stereotyped, bring the only really lively support, and it's mostly just bellowing and posturing.The only redemption here, if any, is Dean Martin's bachelor pad, a wonderful set on which nothing really happens. And the color is pretty nice and lively for the most part, as per the period. And brunette Nancy Sinatra gives it her best and is always fun to watch. She has great chemistry with her dad and Dean.To cleanse your soul of this, pull out Preston Sturges' immortal "The Palm Beach Story" and see how a marriage comedy should move and breathe.

In recent months, I've watched quite a few films by the so-called Rat Pack. Some, such as "Oceans Eleven", were very good. However, quite a few really look like the actors were just going through the motions with substandard scripts--and "Marriage on the Rocks" is clearly one of these.The film is supposed to be a kooky comedy about marriage and divorce. However, comedies, unless I'm mistaken, are supposed to be funny! This one lacks humor and more importantly any charm. The characters are all unlikable and very one-dimensional. Dean Martin plays an executive who NEVER works and chases women. Frank Sinatra plays an executive who ONLY works and is humorless and annoying. And, Deborah Kerr hates his wife who hates her marriage but NEVER tells her husband. As for the kids, they're all self-absorbed jerks. As for the plot, it's bad but is made worse because you hate the characters. While in Mexico, Frank and Deborah ACCIDENTALLY GET DIVORCED and SHE ACCIDENTALLY MARRIES Dean!! This is pretty far-fetched and contrived. Overall, it's a tiresome film that might have worked had it been better written and had the stars (who had HUGE clout in Hollywood at the time) insisted they be given a competent plot. Tiresome.

This movie stars Deborah Kerr, one of the greatest actresses in history. She was nominated for Academy Awards six times and should have been nominated a few more times. I just saw her in "Night of the Iguana," and I thought that was another performance she should have gotten an academy award nomination for. I have never seen her give a bad performance. She gives a charming and funny performance here, keeping the movie together. Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin are spotty, good in some scenes, not-so-good in others.Sinatra is mostly sleepwalking, with Martin occasionally giving some funny lines, but Sinatra doing one-take -- let me out of here,is it 5 o'clock yet -- readings. This could have been a good movie. There are a couple of ways they could have gone with it. First, they could have turned it into a real musical. They already had two of the greatest singers of the time and Deborah Kerr who had starred in "The King and I". How hard would it have been to hire a couple of songwriters to knock out eight songs and get a choreographer to stage a few numbers. This would have added some energy to the slow,plot. Okay, if they didn't want to turn is into a musical, they could have made it into a more realistic comedy. In the movie, Deborah is tired of her marriage to dull Frank and wants to marry swinging Dean. Fine, lets do it. Only in the movie, Deborah gets a fake divorce from Frank and a fake marriage to Dean. This is silly, not funny. In order for the movie to work, the divorce and marriage had to be real. This would, no doubt, have made Frank really sad, and not just pretend sad, as in the film, but that would have made us care about him. Because it is not a real divorce, and Frank and Deborah's marriage isn't really threatened, nor is Frank and Dean's friendship, there is no intensity to the film.Divorce is a painful process. The filmmakers, and, I suspect, Frank Sinatra, didn't want any of that pain in the film. They just wanted a breezy comedy. Unfortunately, fake pain from a fake divorce does not equal comedy. Slipping on a banana peel is funny, faking slipping on a banana peel is not. Most of the film is hit and miss. Joi Lansing as Dean's curvy secretary was funny. Having 21 year old Davey Davison as a Go-Go dancer lusting after 49 year old Frank was not.You know the direction is not very good when you have Nancy Sinatra playing a scene as Frank Sinatra's daughter and you're convinced by the end of the scene that they have never met each before.

It's hard to pinpoint just exactly what's wrong with this film. I think it's a combination of script problems and poor performance, mostly on the part of Frank Sinatra. Sinatra gave great performances in many other films but, as other reviewers pointed out, he seems to be sleep walking through this film, as if he's eager to get a take so he can leave. Nancy Sinatra is young and fresh and gives a sweet performance. Deborah Kerr does her best with what she's been given. Unfortunately, that isn't much. Dean Martin is the highlight of this film. As always, he's fun and charming, and his presence breathes into this film what little life it has. Needless to say, it suffers heavily when he's not on screen and the focus shifts to Sinatra. The plot has many problems. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense but, after all, it's just a film. I could have gone along with the plot, but the main problem is that this film's just plain boring. The basic plot goes something like this: Sinatra and Kerr have been married for 19 years. He ignores her. She complains. At Martin's urging, they go on a second honeymoon in Mexico. Once there, they get in a huge fight, and wind up with a quickie divorce. By the end of the night, both have second thoughts and decide to remarry. However, first Sinatra is called away on business and the wedding must wait until he returns. Martin is Sinatra's best friend and business partner. He leads the free-wheeling life of a swingin' bachelor, dating a bevy of girls but, mainly, his private secretary, Lola. When Sinatra's business detains him longer than expected, he decides not to fly back to Mexico to marry Kerr, who is waiting for him. Instead, he sends Martin (who professes to be an old hand at telling women he's not going to marry them) to break the news to her. In a case of mistaken identity, and before either knows what has happened, Kerr and Martin end up married (the ceremony was in Spanish). He quickly signs annulment/divorce papers, but she refuses to sign, thinking she can use Martin to make Sinatra jealous, and then he'll pay attention to her (Martin & Kerr used to date several years ago). Sinatra finds out her plans and calls her bluff, taking over Martin's pad and dating "Martin's" girls. Kerr acts as if she's mad for Martin and refuses to divorce him. Poor Martin only wants his house, life, and girl friend (whom Sinatra refuses to let him see) back. Sinatra & Kerr's poor children are stuck in between, and Martin is the only one who actually shows some responsibility towards them. Sound confusing and contrived? It is. The ending is incredibly rushed and haphazard. Sinatra & Kerr reunite, but we never get to witness their remarriage. We never get to see if Martin, who is the only one who did nothing wrong, gets his old life back. It's a very disappointing ending that leaves you flat - as this film, in general, does. If you're a fan of Martin's, you'll want to see this just because his performance is so fun, but be prepared to be bored when he's not on screen. For a better Sinatra-Martin pairing try "4 For Texas" or "Robin and the Seven Hoods".