Review of What's Up, Doc? (1972) by Jeff H — 24 Jul 2010

Delightful screwball comedy which is an homage to the Cary Grant/Katherine Hepburn comedies as well as to slapstick Bugs Bunny cartoons. Well directed by Bogdanovich, from a screenplay co-written by the legendary Buck Henry, the performances are superb, though I found O'Neal to be a little too wooden.

Streisand was outstanding, her performance a wonderful mix of sexiness, smarts and silliness which evoked Hepburn in "Bringing Up Baby". This film also marked the feature debut of Madeline Kahn, one of the greatest film comediennes of all time, who is wonderful in the role of O'Neal's whiny, nagging fiancee.

While this one fails to match the outstanding level of "Bringing Up Baby" (Streisand handles the bulk of the rapid-fire witty repartee whilst O'Neal spends much of his time looking confused) it still holds up well as one of the best in the genre, and also stands the test of time.