This dark comedy is not going to be for every taste for several reasons, mainly because of its excessive Jewish humor that not every audience will appreciate. It's about a family of nuts led by Vincent Gardenia and Kay Medford, also including sons Alan Arkin and Rob Reiner. Gardenia and Medford are off to visit gardenias brother, Sid caesar, leaving Reiner in charge of the department store that Gardenia owns and seems to be on the verge of going out of business.
A mix-up has Gardenia believed to have died, Caesar escapes from the mental hospital where he's been convalescing, and Arkin spends the time training his newly adopted son, a 7' black orphan who is a great basketball player but petrified of playing in front of an audience. Anjanette Comer looks hysterical as Arkin's wife with this big kid sitting on her lap being comforted like the baby they've never had.
While some of the humor is questionable, there are a lot of funny moments although for half of the film poor Medford is forced to act like her character is senile. For a good portion of the film, gardenia plays if he is dead, sort of a precursor to the later comedy "What about Bob?". This is a strange family for sure, and not all of their storylines seem to really connect them. At times, this doesn't work but certain individual moments are ones you'll never forget. It's interesting to note that the music in the opening sounds like the opening theme of "Murder By Death".
A mix-up has Gardenia believed to have died, Caesar escapes from the mental hospital where he's been convalescing, and Arkin spends the time training his newly adopted son, a 7' black orphan who is a great basketball player but petrified of playing in front of an audience. Anjanette Comer looks hysterical as Arkin's wife with this big kid sitting on her lap being comforted like the baby they've never had.
While some of the humor is questionable, there are a lot of funny moments although for half of the film poor Medford is forced to act like her character is senile. For a good portion of the film, gardenia plays if he is dead, sort of a precursor to the later comedy "What about Bob?". This is a strange family for sure, and not all of their storylines seem to really connect them. At times, this doesn't work but certain individual moments are ones you'll never forget. It's interesting to note that the music in the opening sounds like the opening theme of "Murder By Death".