Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Overlooked Movies: What About Bob?

This is another of the movies that either Judy and I can refer to in passing and make the other one smile.  Bill Murray plays Bob, a psychiatric patient, and Richard Dreyfuss plays the Doctor Leo Marvin who's going to treat him.  After only one session, Bob feels that Leo is helping him, so he follows Leo and his family on vacation.  

By this time, the viewers have noticed what no one in the movie seems to realize: Bob is much better adjusted than Leo, whose problems with Bob become progressively worse.  Everyone likes Bob, especially the members of Leo's family, who don't relate very well to Leo.  Who could?  He's a clinical egomaniac, mainly concerned about his new book and his reputation.

Bob goes along blithely unaware that Leo hates him and is doing terrible things to him.  Bob thinks they're just accidents.  Every time Leo tries to get rid of them, the tricks backfire, and Leo becomes worse.  Bob just gets better. When Leo's sister falls for Bob, it's the final blow.  Leo decides to kill Bob.  Let's just say that even that doesn't work.  Bob uses methods in Leo's own book to escape.

Dreyfuss and Murray are both hilarious in this.  It's like Inspector Clouseau and Chief Inspector Dreyfus (!) all over again.  Maybe this movie's not to everyone's taste, but it makes me laugh a lot.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is the kind of plot I generally dislike and I was expecting to hate it, but of course I didn't. It was a lot of fun. I know a few people who dislike Bill Murray but I am certainly not one of them.


Jeff

mybillcrider said...

I generally like Murray's work. He was great in this one.

Anonymous said...

He was. I've been a fan of his (with few exceptions) since SNL.


Jeff

pattinase (abbott) said...

Love this movie and we use the line all the time. I am among those who love Bill Murray.

Matthew said...

This was one of my favorite movies as a kid. As an adult, I find that the ending is a bit cartoonish, but for the most part it's enjoyable.

mybillcrider said...

More than a bit cartoonish, but I still like it.