Review of The In-Laws (1979) by Kayla M — 07 Feb 2012

Your enjoyment of this late-1970s comedy will firmly depend on your taste for the combined forces of Peter Falk (a.k.a Columbo) and Alan Arkin (the grandfather in Little Miss Sunshine). Their pairing is what makes this film work, their individual personas bouncing off each other in a tightly written and well structured script by Andrew Bergman (he wrote Fletch and directed Honeymoon In Vegas). Seeing as I love both of these guys, there's a reason why its one of my favourites!

Arkin plays Sheldon Cornfed, a New York dentist whose daughter is marrying the son of Vince Ricardo, played by Falk. They finally meet over a family dinner where Ricardo makes a charming if oddball impression with stories of his time working in the jungles ("They have tsetse flies down there the size of eagles.") It is the next day that Sheldon discovers Ricardo actually works for the CIA, operating rouge to foil a plot to bankrupt the world currency. And stuck in a jam, Ricardo drags Sheldon along in a situation that grows worser with each development.(Sheldon: "There's no reason to shoot me, I'm a dentist!").

Basically the archetypical set piece for this film is Falk slyly explaining something crazy in a casual way, while we watch Arkin reacting, accelerating from calm deadpan acceptance to hyperventilating neuroses. My favourite examples of this include the family dinner sequence and a scene in a cafe where Falk outlays why he just put Arkin's life in danger.

There's also great comic support from some familar character actors including David Paymer, Ed Begley Jnr and especially Richard Libertini, who plays the crackpot dictator that is the final target of Falk's mission. You may not find the humour laugh out loud, but I do. It's an aimable little caper that moves fast and concentrates solely on being funny, which is rare when most American comedies feel they have to throw in some emotional issues in the third act. Recommended!