Seems Like Old Times

After such hits as The Goodbye Girl, Murder by Death and California Suite, screenwriter/playwright Neil Simon has cornered the market in Broadway-inspired snappy comedies for, or about, the suave and sophisticated: all in all, 'the kind of movies they used to make'. In this madcap comic farce, the homage to '30s screwball is explicit in the title, unflagging pace, and plot: a liberal lawyer (Hawn), married to an uptight DA (Grodin), gets messed up by a rogue ex-husband (Chase), their ex-convict servants, and her six dogs. A little of Adam's Rib or The Philadelphia Story creeps in as you drift into wondering how Cary Grant or Katharine Hepburn would have mastered the roles of slightly cracked, snobbish professionals. But after an hour, you begin to realise the irony of Neil Simon winning awards for Outstanding Writing: it doesn't mean it's funny, just that it stands out like a sore thumb. Once you realise that, the whole exercise gets to be an expertly crafted drag. DMacp.