Review of What About Bob? (1991) by Johnny T — 11 Jul 2014

With Dreyfuss and Murray on top form, not even the familiar plotline -- uptight rich person meets free-wheeling poor person and learns about life -- can prevent this lunatic comedy from being funny. Murray nicely shelves his wise-guy persona in a winning comedy. The concept itself is so strong - particularly as a revenge fantasy for anyone who's ever resented hypocritical exploitative shrinks - that it winds up working pretty well anyway. There's no question that the engaging performances of Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss manage to breathe a great deal of life into the proceedings, and before it starts to run out of steam toward the end, the film provides an awful lot of laughs. Murray, with his curious blend of pathos and aggressiveness, is terrific, and so is an acutely uptight Dreyfuss, never once copping a plea for our sympathy. The movie is so good, in fact, are Murray and Dreyfuss as a comedy team that it is to be devoutly hoped the duo will be given an opportunity to reprise their pairing. Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss' chemistry helps make the most of a familiar yet durable premise, elevating What About Bob? into the upper ranks of '90s comedies...

VERDICT: "High-Quality Stuff" - [Positive Reaction] This is a rating to a movie I view as very entertaining and well made, and definitely worth paying the full price at a theatre to see or own on DVD. It is not perfect, but it is definitely excellent. (Films that are rated 3.5 or 4 stars).