sol- While he is mostly remembered nowadays for directing two black-and-white Academy Award winning dramas during the early 1970s, Peter Bogdanovich also helmed two of the funniest movies ever made. One of those is 'Noises Off...' with Michael Caine; this is the other one. 'What's Up, Doc?' is hardly a flawless motion picture and not all the jokes work (an extended chase scenes runs a little too long; Kenneth Mars is a tad too over-the-top). The gags that work though are simply sensational and the film has several wonderfully kooky moments, like several guests at a reception all meeting under the table - which causes one of the waiters to question just what wine they have been serving at that table! In essence, 'What's Up, Doc?' is Bogdanovich's valentine to the screwball comedies of Howard Hawks - particularly 'Bringing Up Baby' - with Ryan O'Neal and Barbra Streisand doing well playing very similar characters to those inhabited by Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn in the Hawks film. Not often cited as an actress with range, Streisand is never less than totally impressive rambling coherent dialogue left, right and centre whilst always feeling like the spontaneous free-spirit that her character is meant to be. Golden Globe nominated Madeline Kahn arguably has the best performance here though as O'Neal's overbearing wife to-be. Funny as the film is throughout, Bogdanovich saves his very best gag for last as Streisand recites the tagline from O'Neal's 'Love Story' to him, leading to a reaction that needs to be seen for itself.

snord-94860 This was a very interesting movie because of what it was able to accomplish. Anyone who watches the first 30 seconds and has a functioning brain would be able to see exactly what the plot will be for the rest of the movie. It is so very predictable in the story that will happen. Nevertheless, that did not detract from it. Unlike many modern comedies that make jokes and almost wait for the audience to laugh or respond before moving on, this comedy made most of its jokes with its tongue in its cheek. They were subtle and almost under the breath of the characters, resulting in a hilarious movie. The best way to describe it would be a fantastic stand-up routine that was shooting jokes in rapid succession. Yes, the basic film elements were there, but this movie was so incredibly entertaining. What's Up Doc was able to capture the essence of something that so many comedies attempt to do now, but in an elevated manner. It didn't have to resort of fowl language or sexual content to get a laugh, but the wit of the writing and the strength of the acting. Hopefully one day we will be able to get another comedy on this level instead of the quiche junk that is made now.In conclusion, it was brilliant and I highly recommend it for anyone who enjoys quick witted and dry humor.

weezeralfalfa Barbara is the cute impish free-spirited daughter of a San Francisco judge: a knowledgeable perennial college dropout or expellee, who is arriving home on a plane. She inexplicably takes a strong interest in an absentminded young musicology professor(Ryan O'Neal) from the Midwest, also arriving on this plane with his nagging fiancé, Eunice, in pursuit of a grant for a very esoteric-sounding project(trying to prove that ancient man's first musical instruments were certain igneous rocks that make a tone when struck). Barbara causes a variety of traffic accidents in her initial pursuit of Ryan. She sees her chance when Ryan leaves Eunice outside to get some aspirin, when she begins her remarkably successful plan to worm her way into Ryan's life, eventually displacing Eunice. She checks into the hotel where Ryan + Eunice check in, along with two other parties who have overnight bags identical to those of Ryan and hers. The 4 bags, containing very different sets of items, get thoroughly mixed up by the incompetent bell boy, thus providing the basis for the remainder of this romantic comedy, in which the two get mixed up in the affairs of the others whose bags they have opened. Of course, after a variety of chases and mishaps , the two eventually become heroes, Eunice leaves Ryan, and Barbara secretly gets on the plane taking Ryan back to his college. It's all very contrived, of course,, but fun for the audience, if not for most of the characters. Liam Dunn, as Barbara's judge father, is a hoot, when the whole gang is brought into his courtroom to try to resolve their complaints about each other. He doesn't survive the experience!Incidentally, there are a few places around the world where rocks do ring when struck, and they are all igneous.If you like this sort of zany contrived screenplay, you might like an old 'made for TV' kung fu-spaghetti western hybrid farce , called "Blood Money", presently available as part of an 8 westerns DVD set. The 4 mixed up bags of the present film brought to mind the 4 sexy butts that were tattooed, in Chinese, each with partial instructions to finding a hidden treasure, in this slightly later film. Two teams(one good, one bad) compete to find the scattered women and find a way to gaining access to their butts.This film also somewhat reminds me of the well regarded Preston Sturges '41 film "Sullivan's Travels", in which Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake meet by chance and go on an unlikely odyssey.

tieman64 "What's up Doc?" is a comedy by the oft underrated Peter Bogdanovich. Like most of Bogdanovich's films, this one's suffused with nostalgia, in this case a longing to resurrect classic screwball comedies of years gone by.The film stars Ryan O'Neal - modelled on silent comedian Harold Lloyd - as a dim musicologist who gets pushed into a nutty relationship with a woman played by Barbra Streisand. Strangely, though the film's packed with references, vaudeville routines, song numbers, jokes, slapstick gags and many homages to Warner cartoons and classic films ("Bringing Up Baby", "Casablanca", "To Have and Have Not" etc), it rarely elicits a chuckle. Indeed, most of the film's joke's seem purposefully mistimed or held at a distance, and the film as a whole has no score.You'd think the effect would be torturous, but instead it's almost academic. What you marvel at is Bogadanovich's odd, detached, somewhat aloof tone. This is a film directed with a kind of machine precision, like a robot printer's version of an anarchic screwball movie, entombed in plastic and lacquered in gloss paint. It's not comedy, so much as a cyborg's copy of an artifact.7.9/10 – Worth one viewing.