Film Review

By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

The In-Laws
Directed by Arthur Hiller
Warner Home Video 06/79 DVD/VHS Feature Film
PG

The In-Laws is the laugh riot of the summer film season! Alan Arkin stars as a mild mannered New York dentist whose highly routinized life is up-ended by the madcap escapades of Peter Falk, an unorthodox CIA agent. How do these two very dissimilar types get together? Arkin's daughter is about to marry Falk's son.

The storyline of this zany comedy by Andrew Bergman is rife with one-line zingers, improbable situations, and slapstick gems. Falk steals some U.S. Treasury plates, lures Arkin into retrieving them from his vault while some thugs wait outside to grab him, and then takes the dentist on a wild spree to a South American banana republic. Along the way, Falk rants about duty to country while Arkin raves about being so outrageously used. The two accomplished actors perform a smashing set of silly chase sequences and an unforgettable finale in which they face a firing squad. Arkin's four-square dentist and Falk's thrill-a-minute CIA agent are the craziest comedy team to be seen on the screen in ages!

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by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat