Review of Foul Play

"Foul Play" is an all time fave of mine. Goldie Hawn was cute as a button, Chevy Chase underplays the comedy beautifully in one of his best roles ever, and the rest of the cast is fantastic from beginning to end. Add to that all the plot twists and turns, not to mention a knock-out spectacular rollicking hi-speed car ride through maddeningly hilly San Francisco and you've got an involving, tongue-in-cheek spy caper. Hawn has all sorts of wacky things happen to her like albino gangsters chasing her, people turning up dead beside her in movie theaters, and various Hitchcockian moments when she stabs a hit man with knitting needles -- all played light and comedic. In fact, this film comes across clearly as fanciful homage to the Grand Master of Suspense himself, Hitchcock. Lots of great set pieces like Hawn mistaking little person actor Billy Barty for the dreaded "Dwarf" who is chasing her down to recover some incriminating evidence; Goldie shoves the poor little guy out the window of her second story Victorian apartment and swats him down with a broom. Turns out he's a bible salesman! In another terrific scene, she imposes on Dudley Moore in a singles bar for help, and he mistakenly believes Goldie is hitting on him -- he takes her back to his passion pit apartment (complete with disco ball, closet full of sexual paraphernalia, quadraphonic sound system, dirty movie projector, and exotically furnished Murphy bed) only to embarrass himself when Goldie catches on to his attempts to seduce her. It's a gas! There's never a dull moment, and everyone appears to be having a blast. This is a feel-good movie if ever there was one; despite the cloying strains of Barry Manilow's various hits like "Ready to Take a Chance Again," et.al. Truly, the music appears appropriate for what is obviously a dated flavor about this film (made in 1978). IMPORTANT: Leonard Maltin is frequently OFF BASE with his reviews, and this is one very good case in point. He gives the film only two and a half stars (it deserves at least three), and and whines "protracted story, tasteless comedy, and Hitchcock plagiarism detract." Not At ALL!!! Every twist and turn of the plot is a delight with chuckles to spare; the comedy is far from tasteless, especially when compared to today's fare; and he obviously confuses Hitchcockian "plagiarism" with the kind of imitation that is the Finest Form Of Flattery. Hitch would have had some great belly-laughs from "Foul Play", and so will you! Alas, the DVD contains no extras like commentary, but it's nice to finally have the movie on DVD.