I had to watch this because Doug Walker said it was the third best comedy ever made. What's amazing is that it outranked "Ghostbusters" and "Spaceballs", which he quotes all the time! I can see where he's coming from and believe it is better than those great comedies. My only complaint is that it does take awhile to really get good. He also mentioned that! It's at about the ten minute mark that it becomes relentless comedy.When I first saw the title, it seemed like a "Looney Tunes" movie. Turns out they are in fact featured a little. I'm not into Barbara Streisand much, but this is easily something that could make me a fan. I find it sad that the creators of "South Park" sincerely hate her and she even mentions Colorado in this movie! What makes this movie so funny is how it just gets funnier and funnier. When it seems like it's slowing down, it does something funny again. A lot of the jokes are around word play and it reminds me of "Airplane!", my favorite comedy movie. It's probably my second favorite romantic comedy, right next to "Annie Hall". The slapstick is great and it's so creative with its comedy. The characters are likeable enough for you to care about what's going on. It's hard not to recommend this to anybody. Watch this hilarious film for a great experience! ****

After his very successful and critically acclaimed The Last Picture Show, Peter Bogdanovich sought to revive the screwball comedies of the 30s. Aiding and abetting him in the revival are Barbra Streisand and Ryan O'Neal in What's Up Doc?Babs and Ryan are in roles that were played by Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant 4 decades ago. The resemblance to Bringing Up Baby is unmistakable. You might also recognize the characters Rock Hudson and Paula Prentiss played in Man's Favorite Sport. That both those films were directed by Howard Hawks is also unmistakable. Bogdanovich had also directed a documentary tribute to Hawks.O'Neal is a musicologist who is looking for a grant to develop a theory about how early cavemen made the first music using igneous rocks that have a tonal quality. I was picturing those Cro-Magnon jam sessions myself, but in a funny way it actually sounds plausible. Anyway he's got some rocks that give out tones and he's traveling with them to demonstrate.Unfortunately three other people are traveling with the same exact traveling bags, one of them carrying Mabel Albertson's jewels and another carrying some top secret plans. They all stay at the same San Francisco hotel and that's half the comedy. The other half is Barbra trying to 'help' O'Neal out of and into all kinds of situations.Funniest scenes are O'Neal and Streisand after setting fire to his room and O'Neal dealing with hotel manager John Hillerman. Later on a goofy chase scene through half of San Francisco ending up in the bay and then having to tell it to the judge. Madeline Kahn who got named in the credits as being 'introduced' plays O'Neal's uptight fiancé. She and Kenneth Mars as O'Neal's rival for the grant stand out among the supporting players.What's Up Doc? holds up very well, as well as the two Hawks films it is a homage to. Howard Hawks was no doubt pleased.

In 1972, director Peter Bogdanovich had the smarts and - let's face it - balls to attempt to make his own version of an old-school full-blown farce, specifically a remake of Howard Hawks' Bringing up Baby. Now, matching up to Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn was always going to be a tough ask, but Ryan O'Neal and Barbra Streisand gave it the ol' college try, resulting in the criminally entertaining What's Up, Doc?A timid professor Dr. Howard Bannister (O'Neal) comes to San Francisco for a musicologists' convention with his prissy fiancée Eunice Burns (Madeline Kahn) to get some much-needed grant money. Here he bumps into an eccentric, disaster-prone "daffy dame" Judy Maxwell (Streisand) whose antics slowly but surely throw his carefully ordered life into upheaval. Judy is an inveterate flirt who won't take "no" for an answer but Howard unavoidably finds himself gravitating to Judy's gravitational center. For the plot to crackle with necessary screw-balling mania, a beautifully disordered case of mistaken identity involving identical red plaid overnight cases - one containing Howard's precious igneous rocks, one Judy's lingerie, another full of valuable gems and the final one carrying top-secret government documents - adds to his woes.All through its 94 minute run-time, Peter Bogdanovich is busy paying homage to all his favorite flavors of humor, efficiently packing them into the brief runtime, hurtling from buffoonery and slapstick, to impersonations and word-play, and lets his leading lady have the one song to smooch up a romantic moment. One of the biggest surprises about 'What's Up, Doc?' is how wonderful Streisand and O'Neal are at comedy and at witty banter - and how much chemistry they have. Barbra Streisand has never been sexier than she is in this movie. She succeeds in scaling down her superstar personality to fit the dimensions of farce, giving us a character which is surprisingly appealing. Ryan O'Neal is even better in an equally tough assignment. He is charming as the unworldly professor, who finds himself lost in all the mayhem. With Bogdanovich directing with a lovely lightness of touch, both of them together manage to work up a kooky charm more befitting of the hippie-era of the early '70s. Also notable among the supporting cast is Miss Kahn, who in her utterly brilliant debut outing, just about walks off with the movie as O'Neal's impossibly square fiancée.If you miss the screwball classics of the early 30s, you owe it to yourself to watch this one. 'What's Up, Doc?' is sinfully enjoyable!

What's Up Doc (1972): Dir: Peter Bogdanovich / Cast: Barbra Streisand, Ryan O'Neal, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars, Liam Dunn: Hilarious send off to Loony Tunes humour done in live action. Four identical suitcases end up in wrong hands, and the innocence of a chance encounter. Ryan O'Neal plays Howard Bannister who is set to give a speech for his research but encounters the forcefully friendly Barbra Streisand creates one catastrophe after another. Director Peter Bogdanovich switches genres from his previous hit The Last Picture Show and proves to know the mechanics of physical humour and dialogue that is so funny and witty yet natural. Streisand plays off the naughty yet lovable qualities that render her sympathetic despite her chaotic actions. O'Neal is the perfect foil struggling to maintain dignity in the face of disaster. Madeline Kahn plays the controlling fiancée Eunice who is a victim of oversight. Kenneth Mars plays a stuck up competitor to the grant O'Neal is aiming for. Liam Dunn plays a judge in one climatic sequence and it becomes the single funniest portion of the film. Few films since The Great Race celebrates the spirit of cartoon slapstick so joyously with several classic moments ranging from the mixed up passing cases, to the road chase where a sheet of glass comes into play, to the most hilarious and surprising court summons. Result is slapstick humour at its very best. Score: 10 / 10