Paul Jordan-Smith
No, it's not a comedy, though there's some classic Matthau/Burnett wisecracking in the beginning, during the courtship. Once their son Robbie is born, life goes the course it often does in Peter de Vries novels (it's adapted from "Witch's Milk"), chronicling the ups and downs of suburban American life. There are some splendid turns by René Auberjonois and Geraldine Page. And check out Tillie's devastating undermining of Pete's shallow paramour over cocktails.Spoiler: when their son Robbie comes down with terminal leukemia, the story takes somewhat predictable turns, morphing from what might at first have seemed a comedy into a reach-for-the-hankie melodrama.I give it a ten, though, because of the performances and the mise-en-scène.
imbluzclooby
Walter Matthau and Carol Burnett are Pete and Tillie. They meet each other in their middle aged years. Pete is a smarmy rogue who likes Tillie, but has a smug way of showing it. Tillie feels that he is a bit of a dog himself, but she knows that she can't get anyone better than him. The courting of their relationship takes up about half of the film with a few dry laughs. Matthau delivers his lines so naturally, you know that if he was to do drama, it could only be tragicomedy. Burnett does well in a serious role and has one cathartic scene as she curses God for the loss of her 9 year old son. She has a wild fight scene with Geraldine Page that's pretty humorous. Only a small part of this story is dedicated to their parenthood as they soon learn their son is diagnosed with a terminal illness. The son dies. Tillie mourns. Pete takes it just limp. Not much emotion is shown in his performance , which I felt was understated correctness. Pete and Tillie soon separate and divorce amicably. It seems sad, but it's simply a slice of life look at two ordinary people who really don't have much in common. I like the concept that these old 70's Hollywood movies had in that they don't stress that all leading couples have to be beautiful or even attractive. Burnett and Matthau had their own charisma, which was shown in their talent. This is not a great film, but it's worth a look for innocuous entertainment.
TxMike
SPOILERS - Ah, the old movies. Did we really dress like that in 1972? Yep. Men with long sideburns and fluffy haircuts, women with butt-tight bellbottom pants. In this movie Pete (Walter Matthau) is the womanizer married to Tillie (Carol Burnett)who just wants a normal, committed marriage. His take on sex and marriage, "The first week you do it every day, then the next week 3 times, then after that once a week until you're cured." He plays the piano, and in one scene he awakens Tillie early, and then we see Pete sitting there stark naked, playing "ragtime", the only tune he apparently knew.Their young son develops a fatal disease, and when he dies they sort of drift apart. One of Tillie's friends encourage her to get a divorce, "I know lots of lawyers", they get into an interesting fight, water spray, garbage cans, and all. At the end Tillie tells Pete, "I finally figured that there's nothing wrong with you at all, you're just hopeless", and they walk off arm-in-arm, his hand on her butt.This isn't a great movie, but a very good one. Matthau and Burnett are wonderful, and the whole story gets you to thinking about your own relationships. A film for mature audiences, because of the concepts. I rate it "7" of 10.
moonspinner55
Walter Matthau and Carol Burnett as a married couple and it's not a comedy? I can't remember if "Pete 'n' Tillie" was advertised as such, but I can certainly believe word-of-mouth on this was bad. The film has a washed-out sense of 'realism' as two single people meet and marry, have a child, and soon face tragedy. It strives to give us sort of a day-to-day examination of married life in the suburbs, but first we need to fall in love with these characters and, despite the charisma of Matthau and Burnett, we don't. They are both brought down to scale (Burnett more fiercely than Matthau) and their comedic tics are mellowed out (Matthau plays a piano nude except for a hat, and it gets a laugh, but then it's back to business). There are colorful moments--and a surprisingly vicious/funny knock-down brawl between Burnett and Geraldine Page--but the script has nowhere to go, the possibilities far exceeding what we see on-screen. An interesting attempt, but perhaps filmmakers who live in Beverly Hills should stay out of the suburbs. ** from ****
AD
