Barbra Streisand's 1970's comedies were a mixed bag, from the loud and obnoxious "The Owl and the Pussycat" to the hysterically funny "What's Up Doc?" to this funny but somewhat labored comedy about a young wife's determination to make her husband do better no matter what it takes. She's even co-erced into attempting to become a homebody hooker (with Molly Picon as a hysterically funny madam), deliver a surprise package, and eventually even transport stolen cattle (including a very butch bull) through the streets of Brooklyn.
"It's not nice to fool Mother Cherry", Picon snarls after Streisand's failed attempts to turn tricks end up breaking one client's nose and with a passed out one locked in a trunk which Streisand's husband (Michael Sarrazin) helps being taken out of their apartment. This is all because Streisand borrowed $3000 from a mobster/loan shark, and in order to avoid being bumped off by them has to do all these strange jobs (causing the money she owes to be raised $1000 each time) which get odder and odder and even may lead to prison time for her character.
An odd follow-up to Streisand's outstanding Oscsr Nominated performance in "The Way We Were", this is a comedy of moments, and some of it misses the mark. William Redfield and Estelle Parsons are Sarrazin's extremely obnoxious brother and sister-in-law whose wealth has forced Streisand to take drastic measures to help her save face in the wake of possible bankruptcy. In the opening minutes of the film, Streisand has a truly bad day, being short on her grocery bill, denying a call on her bill to telephone clerk Anne Ramsey ("Throw Mama From the Train", yes that mama....) and dealing with a bad check returned from the bank. Each of the people she encounters comments on how she can afford pot roast while having financial issues, and it's odd to see the obviously Jewish Streisand pretend to be craving pork bellies so she can convince Sarrazin to invest. Barbra gets to ride on a bull, play hide and seek with a doberman in the subway (check out those 70's subway cars!), and haphazardly get rid of a bomb.
With the comedy a hit and a miss, this still managed to be a hit, because in the mid 1970's (other than possibly "Up the Sandbox"), every film Babs made was a box-office smash. She would make one more in this mold ("The Main Event") before turning to a more artistic path in her sporadic film career. She gets some great cracks in at Parsons' expense, shows a great sense of humor and romantic side with husband Sarrazin (even when yelling at him to get out so she can deal with the tricks Picon is sending over), and is very funny in a curly blonde wig, hat and sunglasses delivering a secret package. And when the cows and bull invade a china shop, the movie gets its one moment of comic genius.
If she had not been in it (only Goldie or Liza might have done it a similar justice), the film would have been second rate at best. She does get to sing over the opening credits, but unlike "The Way We Were" and "Evergreen", the movie song is one that has not stood the test of time. The movie itself comes off as very dated, but the Brooklyn locations (Streisand and Sarrazin obviously live right across the street from Prospect Park) are fun, and a few moments are more than just mildly amusing. To see Streisand and Picon (the Queen of the Yiddish Theater) working together is another treat which makes this worth seeing.
"It's not nice to fool Mother Cherry", Picon snarls after Streisand's failed attempts to turn tricks end up breaking one client's nose and with a passed out one locked in a trunk which Streisand's husband (Michael Sarrazin) helps being taken out of their apartment. This is all because Streisand borrowed $3000 from a mobster/loan shark, and in order to avoid being bumped off by them has to do all these strange jobs (causing the money she owes to be raised $1000 each time) which get odder and odder and even may lead to prison time for her character.
An odd follow-up to Streisand's outstanding Oscsr Nominated performance in "The Way We Were", this is a comedy of moments, and some of it misses the mark. William Redfield and Estelle Parsons are Sarrazin's extremely obnoxious brother and sister-in-law whose wealth has forced Streisand to take drastic measures to help her save face in the wake of possible bankruptcy. In the opening minutes of the film, Streisand has a truly bad day, being short on her grocery bill, denying a call on her bill to telephone clerk Anne Ramsey ("Throw Mama From the Train", yes that mama....) and dealing with a bad check returned from the bank. Each of the people she encounters comments on how she can afford pot roast while having financial issues, and it's odd to see the obviously Jewish Streisand pretend to be craving pork bellies so she can convince Sarrazin to invest. Barbra gets to ride on a bull, play hide and seek with a doberman in the subway (check out those 70's subway cars!), and haphazardly get rid of a bomb.
With the comedy a hit and a miss, this still managed to be a hit, because in the mid 1970's (other than possibly "Up the Sandbox"), every film Babs made was a box-office smash. She would make one more in this mold ("The Main Event") before turning to a more artistic path in her sporadic film career. She gets some great cracks in at Parsons' expense, shows a great sense of humor and romantic side with husband Sarrazin (even when yelling at him to get out so she can deal with the tricks Picon is sending over), and is very funny in a curly blonde wig, hat and sunglasses delivering a secret package. And when the cows and bull invade a china shop, the movie gets its one moment of comic genius.
If she had not been in it (only Goldie or Liza might have done it a similar justice), the film would have been second rate at best. She does get to sing over the opening credits, but unlike "The Way We Were" and "Evergreen", the movie song is one that has not stood the test of time. The movie itself comes off as very dated, but the Brooklyn locations (Streisand and Sarrazin obviously live right across the street from Prospect Park) are fun, and a few moments are more than just mildly amusing. To see Streisand and Picon (the Queen of the Yiddish Theater) working together is another treat which makes this worth seeing.