They All Laughed (1981)
Peter Bogdanovich had directed two real classics of 1970s American Cinema before this one, The Last Picture Show and Paper Moon. Both are heartfelt, somewhat romanticized, and sensitive movies. That's all I knew of him before seeing They All Laughed, and I was surprised at the choppy, slight, throwaway quality to it all. The acting varies hugely from John Ritter being vaguely comic to Audrey Hepburn (yes!) being vaguely Audrey Hepburn. Ritter is used too much and Hepburn not enough. Ben Gazzara can be terrific but here he is supposed to be the stellar ladies man, cool and profound and worldly, and he doesn't pull it off, which becomes an embarrassment. Add some minor characters really struggling, and you begin to think it isn't the acting, but the directing, that keeps it from taking off.
There are several layered plots at work here, and the stuttered construction might have held water with more pieces intact. But more to the point might be the basic premise of the plot or plots. There is genuine adolescent girl watching (and drooling), there is an adult love affair that doesn't quite make sense, there is a crime or two at work behind the scenes (and taxis and helicopters and such). It's cobbled together and filmed rather routinely and in general leaves you feeling disoriented and sorry you got involved. Yeah, that disappointing.
Peter Bogdanovich had directed two real classics of 1970s American Cinema before this one, The Last Picture Show and Paper Moon. Both are heartfelt, somewhat romanticized, and sensitive movies. That's all I knew of him before seeing They All Laughed, and I was surprised at the choppy, slight, throwaway quality to it all. The acting varies hugely from John Ritter being vaguely comic to Audrey Hepburn (yes!) being vaguely Audrey Hepburn. Ritter is used too much and Hepburn not enough. Ben Gazzara can be terrific but here he is supposed to be the stellar ladies man, cool and profound and worldly, and he doesn't pull it off, which becomes an embarrassment. Add some minor characters really struggling, and you begin to think it isn't the acting, but the directing, that keeps it from taking off.
There are several layered plots at work here, and the stuttered construction might have held water with more pieces intact. But more to the point might be the basic premise of the plot or plots. There is genuine adolescent girl watching (and drooling), there is an adult love affair that doesn't quite make sense, there is a crime or two at work behind the scenes (and taxis and helicopters and such). It's cobbled together and filmed rather routinely and in general leaves you feeling disoriented and sorry you got involved. Yeah, that disappointing.