Lightning did not strike twice for George Segal and Glenda Jackson in their second teaming, and if it had, it would have caused their characters to roll down a hill even if there wasn't one around. They are both heading to the same ski resort, and attempts to avoid a car collision has them rolling down a mountainside, ending up in the hospital, with her in the right because she was on the right side of the road but him blaming her for the accident. Later on, flying over a hill on skis has him landing on her, and they both end up with broken legs, and eventually wedding rings.
My question is why did the writing team of Melvin Frank and Jack Rose think that this mismatched couple would be funny, and why did they have to make him continuously such a pompous jerk? He has very few shades of gray, and any that are there are formulated through the obnoxiousness of his mother, played by Maureen Stapleton, a usually loveable actress, here even more annoying character than her mother in "Bye Bye Birdie". I guess Shelley Winters wasn't available.
In my eyes, Jackson can do no wrong, and she's the bright light of this badly formatted comedy that should have ended up in a different box than the lost and found one. I can see why this was such a flop. I was certain that I had seen it before, but I must have mistaken this for one of Jackson's pairings with Walter Matthau where lightning did strike twice in the right way. Glimpses of SCTV's John Candy and Martin Short don't foreshadow their future success, and Paul Sorvino overacts as an over jealous cab driver. There were many hideously bad comedies in the 70's, but the decade ended on a really sour note with this one.
My question is why did the writing team of Melvin Frank and Jack Rose think that this mismatched couple would be funny, and why did they have to make him continuously such a pompous jerk? He has very few shades of gray, and any that are there are formulated through the obnoxiousness of his mother, played by Maureen Stapleton, a usually loveable actress, here even more annoying character than her mother in "Bye Bye Birdie". I guess Shelley Winters wasn't available.
In my eyes, Jackson can do no wrong, and she's the bright light of this badly formatted comedy that should have ended up in a different box than the lost and found one. I can see why this was such a flop. I was certain that I had seen it before, but I must have mistaken this for one of Jackson's pairings with Walter Matthau where lightning did strike twice in the right way. Glimpses of SCTV's John Candy and Martin Short don't foreshadow their future success, and Paul Sorvino overacts as an over jealous cab driver. There were many hideously bad comedies in the 70's, but the decade ended on a really sour note with this one.