BEFORE: I thought I had a pretty good run there, with each film sharing at least one actor with the films before it and after it, stretching back to Jan. 25's "Hop", and I was sure that would end tonight - but with some luck, Jack Weston carrries over tonight from "The Four Seasons". Maybe I planned this weeks ago, it's a little tough to say.
THE PLOT: A dentist pretends to be married to avoid commitment, but when he falls for his girlfriend and proposes, he must recruit his lovelorn nurse to pose as his wife.
AFTER: At first glance, this seems to be the same plot as "Just Go With It". And at second (and third) glance that also appears to be the case, though the makers of that Adam Sandler film failed to mention that they cribbed their plot from this film, just changing the role of a dentist to that of a plastic surgeon (probably to get more boobies in the film), and adding in larger roles for the fake kids and the state of Hawaii.
We've got a bachelor in a well-paying medical profession who pretends to be married because it apparently gets him more girls (there's that weird logic again) and he never needs to commit to them. But when he finally finds the one he wants to marry, he has to untangle his lie by telling more and more lies, including enlisting his nurse to pretend to be his wife, and then she needs a pretend boyfriend, etc. etc. Yep, same plot. But this one came first.
It was also made in the 1960's, so we're treated to the somewhat odd sight of acclaimed actress Ingrid Bergman dancing the boogaloo (or maybe it's the froog) in a Manhattan nightspot, along with one of the decade's more notable "jiggle-jaggle" girls. And the most sought-after of all gifts is the (now very un-P.C.) mink stole. If you gave a woman a mink back then, you might as well just give her the diamond ring next.
ASIDE: Goldie Hawn won an Oscar for this? An OSCAR? Must have been a slow year for supporting actresses. Why wasn't Ingrid Bergman nominated instead? End of ASIDE.
There's even the "weird foreign guy", who's also married and looking for action (must have been a fun decade), and his role in the not-remake was turned into the lead's friend, who was just pretending to be a weird foreign guy. So I'm calling it - "Cactus Flower" plus kids plus improv equals "Just Go With It", which makes Jennifer Aniston our generation's Ingrid Bergman, somehow.
There are so many deceptions here, and lies within lies, that at time it seems like the characters themselves believe in the alternate stories over the real ones. That's a problem. It's also a problem when telling 100 MORE lies is seen as a better alternative than telling the truth once. Before you know it, you're telling your girl that you work for the CIA, and that this is all part of a plot to overthrow the government in Chile.
But hey, maybe you like oblique metaphors about cactuses. Or nightclubs where they play instrumental versions of "I'm a Believer" - if so, then godspeed.
Starring Walter Matthau (last seen in "The Front Page"), Ingrid Bergman (last seen in "Casablanca"), Goldie Hawn (last seen in "Housesitter"), Rick Lenz, Vito Scotti.
RATING: 4 out of 10 vinyl records
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