The In-Laws (1979)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

The In-Laws (1979) – A. Hiller

I had fond memories of this one from childhood and, fortunately, I still found it funny when I revisited it last night – and not too many movies actually make me laugh.  Here, uptight dentist Alan Arkin’s reactions to the preposterous situations that “global businessman” Peter Falk gets him into are priceless.  Falk himself is no slouch in his portrayal either – especially when you discover that he was improvising some of his dialogue (probably adding to Arkin’s incredulous responses).  The plot is as follows:  Arkin’s daughter is engaged to marry Falk’s son and the big wedding is coming up.  They finally meet, amidst some problems for Falk involving the theft of US$ engraving plates, angry gangsters, and a Central American dictator.  Things quickly spiral out of control and Arkin finds himself in many ridiculous (and dangerous) positions – and ends up bonding with Falk (who may really know what he is doing – or not!).  I chortled along throughout the film and I recommend it to you!  (I’m not interested in seeing the remake).