As big of a fan of Dreyfus as I am, his character in this film bugged me. He seemed seriously unlikable! From the look on his face when Leo first meets Bob, you can just tell Leo is looking down his nose. Leo seemed pretty cool with his kids. Well, despite being uptight 24/7! I wonder if Murray based the beginning part of his character in Groundhog Day on Dreyfus' Dr. Marvin? Bob is clingy. Super clingy! But Murray is hip as usual!!The original Henry Blake character from MASH is in this film. Just saying. I liked this movie!!

Bill Murray, Richard Dreyfuss, Julie Hagerty, Charlie Korsmo and Kathryn Erbe star in this 1991 comedy. This begins in New York where we meet Bob Wiley (Murray), a misanthrope who meets psychiatrist, Leo Marvin (Dreyfuss) who is about to spend a month on vacation with his family in New Hampshire. After Leo tries to help Bob with his illness, Bob tracks him down at his lake house and starts getting on his nerves. Hagerty (Airplane) plays Leo's wife, Fay, Korsmo (Dick Tracy) plays their son, Siggy and Erbe (Law & Order) plays Anna, their daughter. This is a good comedy and Murray & Dreyfuss are great in it. I recommend this.

In fact, it is such light entertainment it is one of the few films that mental hospitals will let their patients watch! And no, I don't know this because I was an inmate.It's the story of two men - Bob and Dr.Leo Marvin. Bob is a man so tied up in his obsessive compulsions he can barely move. Thus he works at home in NYC and lives a simple life. However, he does see the value of therapy and apparently has been through a number of psychiatrists, all of whom he pesters to the point that they pass him off to someone else and leave town.The latest doctor to be duped into taking Bob (Bill Murray) as a patient is Dr. Leo Marvin (Richard Dreyfuss). He has precisely one session with Bob, gives him a copy of his latest book - "Baby Steps", and tells him he will see him next month because he is going on vacation. This sends Bob into a panic because the one constant in his life has been his tenacious hold on his series of psychiatrists. Bob's decision - he will "baby step" his way to New Hampshire and go on vacation where Dr. Marvin is.Now you see, Bob is actually quite likable to anybody who is NOT a psychiatrist, and he quickly bonds to Dr. Marvin's family and even helps the Marvins' son with some of his hang-ups in a way that Leo has never been able to do. You also have to realize that, like Bob, Leo is a guy with a lot of rigid rules about everything himself. In many ways he is as hung up as Bob is, but in socially acceptable ways. The result is that Bob violating all of Dr. Marvin's rules slowly drives Dr. Marvin nuts, while basically adopting Dr. Marvin's family makes Bob much better.I'll let you watch and see how this all turns out. Let me just say that this is not One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - it is a comedy for the entire family and a very good one at that. A ten year old could watch it and not be stressed. Kids much younger than that could watch it, but they just might not get it. Highly recommended.

There have been movies released before about crazy or uncontrollable characters let loose to follow a certain somebody and drive them up a wall. The most recognizable of comedies that had this kind of set up were films like Ben Stiller's dark comedy The Cable Guy (1996), Duplex (2003) or Kurt Russell's Captain Ron (1992). Both of which were about main characters' mental issues that somehow were able to get away with everything, meanwhile simultaneously annoying the living crap out of the person they cling on to. This is no different on a narrative level; the formula is all there. The only change are the leads, their positions on the social ladder and the location. The real element that will win over its viewers will be Bill Murray - if you're a big fan of him.To be realistic it is not a bad performance and Bill Murray doesn't play the worst character. However, he's still not that likable. In fact, none of the characters any actor plays is that likable. The day before Dr. Leo Marvin (Richard Dreyfuss) leaves for vacation, a fellow psychiatrist transfers one of his patients, Bob Wiley (Bill Murray) to be checked out. After visiting Dr. Marvin, it is revealed to Bob that Dr. Marvin is going on vacation. With that, Bob does everything he can to see his Dr. again for psychiatric help. Tom Schulman best known for writing Dead Poets Society (1989) and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989), penned the script for this comedy with the legendary Frank Oz directing.The strange thing is, like stated before, the execution isn't anything new. The direction is too well known - crazy person introduced to potential host, host becomes victim of crazy person's antics while nobody else believes them. Unlike The Cable Guy (1996) and Duplex (2003) which were mean spirited comedies and Captain Ron (1992) being more dimwitted than anything else, this just plays out irritating. Thankfully, Bill Murray's character wasn't written to be mean spirited, in fact his role is more innocent by nature. The problem is he just doesn't take a hint when someone says leave. With that Bill Murray comes off as more obnoxious than anything else. He's not sick-minded or a jerk, so that kind of makes him acceptable but not likable really because there's little to sympathize for. Bob could be a likable character if he was written more as a character than knows he's causing trouble but can't help it. Instead, Bob causes pain to others and doesn't even notice it. Then again though, that may be due to his dumb surrounding characters.It truly is amazing to how oblivious people can be. Since when are family members so accepting of a professional's patient to show up on vacation, sleep with them in the same room and eat at their table. Not to mention teaching their kids bad words. Doesn't that raise a couple, if not more than a couple red flags? Haven't they heard of the phrase, "don't bring your work home with you"? Dr. Marvin seems to be the only one who notices and understands that. It's weird because everyone else is so accepting of Bob and yet they don't deal with him in the same manner as Dr. Marvin. Plus, some of the smallest things Bob does everyone finds it hilarious, especially Mrs. Marvin (Julie Hagerty) who is quite annoying too. Saying "MmmmmmMMMMmmm" after every bite of food at the dinner table really stirs up that many chuckles ? It's because of their lack of concern and care for the victim that makes them unlikable as well and contain no charm. Clearly stated in the movie, one of the reasons why people like Bob is because he's fun and old man Dr. Marvin wasn't. Maybe writer Tom Schulman was trying to get the message across; that you can't live life being a stick-in-the-mud all the time (meaning relax now and then). But aside from one subplot about Dr. Marvin's son trying to learn how to dive, there is no indication of Dr. Marvin being a father who can't have fun. The only reason why nobody finds Dr. Marvin fun is because he's trying to get rid of a patient that is following him and can't get rid of. Wouldn't that make you act rotten too? These supporting characters are so thickheaded. The only actor that is funny on occasion is Richard Dreyfuss. The reason for this being that even going back to the years of Jaws (1975), when Dreyfuss got frustrated, his yelling was more comical than it was dramatic. Nonetheless, since this is a comedy, Dreyfuss is funny in a number of areas because his character has no other way of dealing with the problem (being Bob). Cinematography this time by Michael Ballhaus wasn't anything important, it doesn't showcase much. The music however, composed by Miles Goodman is alright, although it does sound very close to that of his more popular score a year later from The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992). It's not terrible but it isn't good comedy either, unless you're a true Bill Murray fan.Hardcore Bill Murray fans should have no problem with this but if you tire of formulaic host comedies where some crazy person makes everyone turn on the already label victim, it'll be a frustrating sit. It's not the worst because Richard Dreyfuss is funny and Bill Murray's role isn't mean spirited, but the whole play out is just annoying to sit through anyway.