Reviews

I love this show! I've been watching it on BBCAmerica, and it makes me laugh out loud--unlike American sitcoms. Ardal O'Hanlon is perfect in the role of an alien superhero, sniffing out trouble around Earth, dashing to the rescue quickly and efficiently--but absolutely clueless as to the ways and mores of earthly relationships. His attempts to adapt to Earth and England are for love, which makes them oddly endearing. The peripheral characters are a bit much; the Health Centre's receptionist Mrs. Raven and pompous Dr. Piers Crispin for example are one-note characters, and quickly become tiring. But the central relationship of George "Thermoman" Sunday and his lovely Janet (played with the right balance of affection and exasperation by Emily Joyce) sustains this lightweight but thoroughly enjoyable comedy.

If you have the opportunity to rent this movie, stay home and watch it instead of the recent remake. It is much more faithful to the book, and the performances are superior to the re-make.

Ms. Foster shines in this film, as she did in all her Disney work, and I would disagree with the previous post referring to her working with sub-par talent. David Niven, Barbara Harris, Helen Hayes, Leo Mckern, Michael Douglas, Will Geer--not sub-par by any means. And perhaps working with these actors, most of them seasoned veterans, taught the young actress a thing or two about acting. And Hollywood.

That 70's Show does what is is intended to do. It makes people laugh. Those of us who remember growing up in the seventies laugh because we recognize the clothes, the behavior, the parents, and the decor. We laugh because we get the references made in the fantasy sequences. We laugh at what seemed so very serious and important back in the day. And we laugh because we grew up on true situation comedy, and understand that it is not there to teach us, guide us, enlighten us, or empower us. It exists to make us laugh. Against that yardstick, That 70's Show measures up beautifully.

I don't understand why anyone thought it would be a good idea to take a classic noir thriller like Cornell Woolrich's "I Married a Dead Man" and turn it into a romantic comedy. With Ricki Lake as female lead. A dramatic retelling would have made for a better movie, I believe. Richard Benjamin should never have signed up to direct this.

That is why it could have been better.

Now--it could have been worse.

This film is not great art, but it is an engaging, pleasant, lightweight piece of entertainment. Thanks for that should go to Brendan Fraser, Shirley MacLaine, and Miguel Sandoval, for their well-executed performances. Because of them, you can suspend your disbelief in the improbable plot (and in Miss Lake's acting) for several scenes at a time. If you like fluff, and appreciate the pleasures of an articulate Brendan Fraser in a suit (WOW--and doing the tango, yet!), you could do worse than this film. If you want to see a film version that truly works well, and has a far more compelling heroine, see the 1950 film "No Man of Her Own", starring Barbara Stanwyck.