Here's the prob. The book's a lot better. Paul Erdman invented the financial thriller with Billion Dollar Sure Thing and followed it up with this story. Inevitably, it's a 70s caper pic without the physical action. Not a great recipe but it works. The leads are OK. Michael Caine isn't given a lot to work with and Jay Leno shows he was right to take another direction. The supporting roles are much better filled. Joss Ackland and Charles Gray both deliver on cue and whoever plays Donald Luckman comes closer than anyone to the book. On the other hand, Cybil Shepherd's Debbie Luckman is nothing like the book. She's better! In the book, Debbie's a frustrated, embittered bitch. And not without reason but here, she's a suburban child escaping her boundaries but never breaking faith with Donald. Donald's going to be locked up and she's not about to abandon him. But Michael Caine's home is awfully close to the jail ...

Complicated-to-the-point-of-derisory goings on; set in the less-than-fascinating world of the silver shares market, Swiss banks, crooked syndicate bosses and their schemes and so on. And on. And on. For at 110 minutes, this painfully protracted, alleged 'comedy' becomes unbearable as its visual jokes are repeated ad infinitum. The humour itself, although not exactly in the 'Road Trip' class of vulgarity, is unlikely to appeal to anyone over the age of 7. Everyone acts superfluously silly under the impression they are doing a good job, oblivious to their director, who is busy making some sort of jet-set Jacqueline Susannesque melodrama. Cybill has her work cut out as she frequently has to play the scenery as well as her designated role. The sort of film you may at least be able to laugh at, as opposed to with, provided you can drum up the enthusiasm to keep your eyes on the screen.

This is a movie I could easily have missed. It played at a theater I worked at, and was an unusually rare booking in that, as I recall, it actually played for less than a week (talk about filler).Nevertheless, it really is a gem of a comedy. Years later, working in a video store, I would frequently put it on the store monitor to play, and almost never got through the whole thing, because invariably someone would see a bit of it and then want to rent it.Contrary to another user's comment, it would be hard to claim that Jay Leno's role is third. He has a good part, but he could hardly be placed ahead of Louis Jourdan or Tom Smothers. Possibly ahead of David Warner.This is not some people's idea of comedy, as there are no fart jokes or car crashes, but it's a movie you find yourself chuckling at all the way through. A collection of classy comedic performances from the stars and supporting cast members Joss Ackland, Charles Gray, Jeremy Clyde (of Chad & Jeremy fame), and Leno, among others.Be warned if looking for it on home video, however. Though the first release of it was in SP mode, it was later released in a bargain-bin EP/SLP version, which will of course look like crap. If only someone would put this gem out on DVD.

I haven't seen this movie in ages but I remember liking it a great deal. The plot is one of those twisty turny types thats no where near as clever as it think it is. The film is a mindless time killer but not in a bad way. The real curiosity is the fact that it stars Jay Leno in what is actually the third largest part in the film. Leno is good in his role, certainly much better than you'd expect from one of the current kings of late night TV. Certainly had this film been made now Leno would be billed near the top instead of eighth or ninth in the cast list. If you're dying to be able to one up your friends in useless trivia and to be able to see a film that they probably haven;t seen, but might want to for the curiosity factor, give it a shot.