Review of Don't Make Waves

Everything looks good, especially the stars, in this wacky comedy, but it ultimately becomes muddled and fails to deliver. Curtis plays a transplant to California from the east coast who has barely set foot outside his car when fiery artist Cardinale manages to destroy practically everything he owns, including most of his clothes! She takes him back to her beach pad so that he'll have a place to sleep while she looks into the insurance matters, but for some reason her married sugar daddy Webber isn't too keen on the idea! Curtis decides to con Webber in order to get a job and make money while flirting with Cardinale, though he also has his eyes on (and who wouldn't?!) shapely, bikini-clad Tate who lives in a bus with some hippies on the nearby beach. Somehow it all winds up in a snazzy house, which is slowly sliding down the face of a mountain as the people inside sort out their romantic issues. Curtis is in great shape here (he's frequently shirtless or in blue shorts) and tries hard to make a strong comedic impression. Unfortunately, he is just, like the others in the cast, undone by a haphazard and rather aimless script. Cardinale is sexy and curvy and also looks terrific, but her character is uneven and she hasn't exactly mastered English completely. Webber is perfectly cast as a demanding and sneaky businessman. Barnes plays his rather brittle wife. She has bangs that cover the better part of her face and her character isn't very well developed. Draper plays a big, blonde lug of a bodybuilder. One real treat here is the unbelievably luscious Tate as a character called Malibu. Impossibly tan with golden hair, she actually was the inspiration of the later "Malibu Barbie" and it's one case in which the real thing outdid the questionably proportioned plastic one. Like many others in the film, her talent is squandered and she's mostly used for her looks, but tremendous looks they are. Backus and his real life wife enjoy themselves in a cameo while Bergen has a small role as spiritualist. The opening sequences of the film are engaging and promising. However, as the storyline begins to play out, it all becomes very tiresome and convoluted. By the time the big climax arrives, viewer interest is at a pretty low ebb. The everything-but-the-kitchen-sink disaster-style ending is sort of like some of Blake Edwards' more desperate cinematic products. The effects in it range from so-so to cruddy. The film piddles out as if everyone got tired and decided to end it on the spot.