150 Word Review: 'What's Up, Doc?' (1972)
Babs bunny
There are many Barbara Streisands (Barbaras Streisand?), and I tend to love them all: diva, director, Oscar-winner. But my favorite is Barbara Streisand, the sexy Borscht Belt chaos agent in the colorful, post-hippie screwball comedy What’s Up Doc.
The movie begins with a flock of McGuffins: a plaid suitcase of secret documents, followed by one of jewels. Meanwhile, we meet Ryan O’Neal’s absent-minded geologist, Dr. Howard Bannister, and his nagging wife, the inimitable Madeline Kahn, a comedienne making her film debut. Wouldn’t you know it, Bannister has a plaid suitcase too, only full of rocks. A series of mix-ups complicates everything. And there’s Barbara Streisand, spitting zingers like a sexy Groucho Marx.
Director Peter Bogdanovich is in full control. One-liners snap, doors slam, cream pies fly. Slapstick is superb, including one of my favorite car chases. Chemistry between the leads is pure Hollywood cocaine. Who can resist Babs? No one.
Is this a worthy successor to the screwball comedies of the 1930s?
I fell in love with Barbra after seeing What's Up Doc? as a kid! She was so beautiful and funny. When I watch the film today I'm also amazed at that incredible chase scene through San Francisco. It's truly comical and ahead of its time.