The In-Laws

The first certifed crazy person's comedy

The In-Laws 1979/color/103min/pg/warner

Directed by Arthur Hiller

Cast
Peter Falk/Alan Arkin/Richard Libertini/Nacey Dussault/David Paymer/Ed Begley jr.

Music by
John Morris

DP
David M. Walsh
Written by
Andrew Bergman

This comedy has everything a comedy should have. It has mayham, some tongue in cheek,action, good acting in the two main roles and a breakneak pace.It's directed by Arthur Hiller who always puts out a worthy effort. Peter Falk play an ex C.I.A. operative who has a son who is going to marry Arkin's daughter When they met Falk decides to uses father (Arkin) to help him with some undercover stuff which just happens to be very dangerous but Arkin goes along for the rollercoaster ride just so he can get Falk of his back and get back to his dentist practice.

This is one of those films you can just sit down and enjoy what it has to offer it's got a couple car chase,foot chase, shoting in the middle of new york crazy dialogue and if you like the pairing between Falk and Arkin like I do than John Cassavettes "Big Trouble" is another great film starring the two main leads.

"Serpentine, Shelly! Serpentine!"

Alan Arkin and/or Peter Falk should be in just about every movie ever made, especially comedies.

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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

I don't think a lot of people know what your talking about especially if they haven't seen it but that's my favorite scene in the movie cracks me up everytime,even just think about it or when I mention it or my dad mentions it it's the first thing that we think of and where Falk tells Arkin he didn't Serpentine so he goes back out under fire and Serpentines Hilarious

[After a harrowing cab ride.]
Sheldon: Did we hit the little boy on Sixth Avenue?
Vince: No, we missed him by a good foot and a half.

I saw an interview with Falk (I believe it was the "Inside the Actor's Studio" program on Bravo) where he confessed orginally he didn't even "get" the famous "serpentine" scene. During rehersals he felt it was flat or something, so he asked Arkin if he thought this was really a funny bit. Arkin responded with a simple "You know, you're an idiot." The rest is comic movie history.


On a sidenote, have you ever seen Kevin Pollack (The Usual Suspects, Avalon, A Few Good Men) do his Alan Arkin impression? He does a perfect Columbo too - even complete with roving eye, but his Arkin is such a unique and specific impression. Absolutely hysterical. I saw him do it years ago (Pollack was a stand-up before becoming an actor) and it was flawless, but then he perfected it even further after they worked together on the limp dramadey Indian Summer in '93.

I didn't know Pollack did impression of those two guys but I've seen Indiana Summer but I can't remember it that much just a bit here and a bit there I might give that another look and check out Pollack doin Arkin sound really cool.

Holden do you like John Cassavettes "Big Trouble" what do you think of that one ??
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Big Trouble isn't anywhere close to as good as The In-Laws (despite another script by Andrew Bergman), but it's still funny to see Falk & Arkin together. Probably Cassavetes' least personal film (by design), but it's a lot of fun.


And to be clear, I don't remember Pollack doing an impression of Arkin in the movie Indian Summer (alothough it's been so long since I've seen it, he may deliver a line that way but I've forgotten). I hear him do it occasionally on talk shows and his stand-up, which he still does from time to time (he was here in D.C. at the Improv last year). I meant that after spending months with Arkin on the set, his impression became even stronger subsequently. Pollack does do his Columbo on-screen a bit in the lamest of the Wilder/Pryor entires, Another You (1991).

Brought this one up to the top 'cause guess where I'm goin' tonight? To see Kevin Pollack, live.

He was on "Late Night" with Conan O'Brien last night, and plugging the fact that The Improv is opening a Baltimore location. Tonight is the opening night, and Pollack is booked through New Year's Eve. So I called up this morning, and sure enough, phone's been ringing off the hook, but seats are still available. So I'm going to see the first performance of opening night in just a few hours!

I saw Pollack in D.C. a couple years ago, and I've always loved his stand-up since I saw him on HBO in the '80s. Very funny guy, and truly gifted with his impressions. I may have to call out for his Arkin or Albert Brooks if he doesn't do 'em on his own.


BTW, he did a little bit of his dead-on Columbo impression with Conan last night. Mostly he did his Bill Shatner, which is really the DEFINITIVE Shatner, and Conan's personal favorite.

Awesome man tell me how it goes over I got to find this guy on stand-up cause I've never seen him do all the stuff your talking about.

Is there any kind of VHS's or DVD's you can get on Kevin Pollack tell me Holden if you know thanks.

Ah, that was great. The warm-up act was almost as funny too, so that's always a bonus. Good times, lots and lots of laughs. He did about ten solid minutes as Arkin (with a little Falk). I was almost literally on the floor. The twenty-something couple in front of us looked at each other about half-way through that set, me behind them with tears in my eyes from lauging so hard, and the gal asked the guy, "Who is he doing?", to which the boyfriend only replied with a shrug - they didn't do much laughing in that part. A specialized impression, but amazingly dead on, and for any fans of Alan Arkin, pianfully funny.

Of The In-Laws, Pollack called it "the funniest movie ever made" and warned "you'll be bleeding internally from laughing so hard...assuming you consider that a good thing."

He told his Schawrzenegger stories (co-star in End of Days), his Nicholson stuff (co-star A Few Good Men), Matthau (Grumpy Old Men flicks), and his first encounter with the man who introduced "pause acting" to the world, Bill Shatner. Didn't get his Albert Brooks or Jim Ignatowski, but he's added Christopher Walken to his act. Not as good as Jay Mohr's, but as good as Spacey's. Funny stuff.


Kevin Pollak's one-hour HBO stand-up special, "Stop with the Kicking", was released commercially on VHS many moons ago, but it went out-of-print long ago too. It'd be hit or miss if any decent older video store in your area had a copy still hangin' around.

Just heard that a re-make of The In-Laws is going into production this Summer. What a shame, and how entirely pointless. I suppose it had to happen sometime, but I wish this one had been left alone.

Tenatively to be called Till Death Do Us Part, it's being directed by Andrew Fleming, who helmed the decent comic satire Dick (1999), as well as the lame would-be provacative Threesome (1994), forgettable teenage Goths as witches in The Craft (1996), and way back in '88 an average horror flick called Bad Dreams. None of that is particularly hopeful to me, though I thought Dick was good and underseen.

The co-stars of this new version are Michael Douglas in the Falk role, and Albert Brooks in the Arkin part. I've never thought much of Douglas as an actor, though for me he gave the performance of his career in Wonder Boys. On the other hand I am an ENORMOUS Albert Brooks fan - as an actor, a writer, a director, a talkshow guest, a stand-up and any other thing he chooses to do. I don't think anyone on the planet is funnier. But having said that, there's no way he should be doing this movie.

The basic material of The In-Laws is strong and will translate if done properly, I just generally hate when great movies are re-made.

Oh, well. Whatareyougonnado? At least this'll likely get the original flick released on DVD with a nice, new widescreen transfer and hopefully even some terrific supplements (I'd kill to hear Falk and Arkin together on a commentary track).

This has to be one of my favorite thread at MoFo's and I O it all to you Mr.Pike

You'be da man, man The In-Laws on DVD with a commentary from Arkin and Falk.

this is great news if you ask me, if they have to do a remake to produce the original on DVD i'm all for it.


thanks bud for the best news of the day.

One of the funniest movies ever made...Falk and Arkin are magic together.