My review was written in September 1990 after watching the movie at a Columbus Circle screening room.
"Funny About Love" is a not-so-funny Gene Wilder vehicle. Sappy combination of smiles and sentimentality marks an off-day for the talented comic.
Tale of the biological clock regarding procreation is told from a male point of view here, with director Leonard Nimoy doing a good job of making palatable the more vulgar aspects of the script. However, Wilder's problems as a would-be daddy aren't interesting or compelling.
Cast as a sort of Garry Trudeau political cartoonist, Wilder bumps into Christine Lahti in a "meet cute" situation. She's working for the caterer at a book signing event, and Wilder complains about her cappuccino preparation. In a well-paced and well-edited opening reel, the divorcees strike up a romance and get married.
Inability to conceive bogs the film down in almost clinical detail. Funniest bit has Wilder sticking ice cubes in his jockey shorts on doctor's advice to get his sperm temperature down.
Film takes an absurd turn in the third reel when Wilder's child bride of a mother, Anne Jackson, is killed by a failing stove (meant to be black humor). Pic hardly recovers from this failed bit of whimsy.
While the viewer may be thinking of Irene Dunne and Cary Grant in a similar baby-less situation in the classic "Penny Serenade", the duo breaks up so that Lahti can fulfill herself in a career as restaurateur.
Co-star Mary Stuart Masterson doesn't enter the scene until a full hour has elapsed, and one is likely to wonder if she's going to reprise her baby maker role from "Immediate Family" with Lahti in the Glenn Close slo. Instead, Mastersoln is a modern young woman whose lingo pushes the limits of the film's PG-13 rating.
Wilder meets her at a convention of beautiful sorority girls where he's guest speaker. Another whirlwind romance ensues, and Masterson is pregnant. Silly touch has no less than basketball star Patrick Ewing cameoing to announce the impending blessed event to Wilder in the Knicks' locker room.
Masterson's miscarriage and breakup with Wilder are poorly scripted en route to the predictable reconciliation with Lahti . Like "Penny Serenade", the story resolution is in adoption, but the finale is padded and tedious.
Wilder has his moments in a role that overdoes the crying jags and self-pity. Both Lahti and Masterson remain most appealing actresses in search of challenging roles, not provided here. Jacksoln and Robert Prosky are wasted as Wilder's unlikely parents, while Susan Ruttan overdoes the ditzy routine as Prosky's next wife.
Miles Goodman's jaunty musical score and Fred Murphy's loverly views of the Big Apple make this pill easy to swallow, but it's not Mr. Spock's (or even Dr. Spock's) finest hour.
"Funny About Love" is a not-so-funny Gene Wilder vehicle. Sappy combination of smiles and sentimentality marks an off-day for the talented comic.
Tale of the biological clock regarding procreation is told from a male point of view here, with director Leonard Nimoy doing a good job of making palatable the more vulgar aspects of the script. However, Wilder's problems as a would-be daddy aren't interesting or compelling.
Cast as a sort of Garry Trudeau political cartoonist, Wilder bumps into Christine Lahti in a "meet cute" situation. She's working for the caterer at a book signing event, and Wilder complains about her cappuccino preparation. In a well-paced and well-edited opening reel, the divorcees strike up a romance and get married.
Inability to conceive bogs the film down in almost clinical detail. Funniest bit has Wilder sticking ice cubes in his jockey shorts on doctor's advice to get his sperm temperature down.
Film takes an absurd turn in the third reel when Wilder's child bride of a mother, Anne Jackson, is killed by a failing stove (meant to be black humor). Pic hardly recovers from this failed bit of whimsy.
While the viewer may be thinking of Irene Dunne and Cary Grant in a similar baby-less situation in the classic "Penny Serenade", the duo breaks up so that Lahti can fulfill herself in a career as restaurateur.
Co-star Mary Stuart Masterson doesn't enter the scene until a full hour has elapsed, and one is likely to wonder if she's going to reprise her baby maker role from "Immediate Family" with Lahti in the Glenn Close slo. Instead, Mastersoln is a modern young woman whose lingo pushes the limits of the film's PG-13 rating.
Wilder meets her at a convention of beautiful sorority girls where he's guest speaker. Another whirlwind romance ensues, and Masterson is pregnant. Silly touch has no less than basketball star Patrick Ewing cameoing to announce the impending blessed event to Wilder in the Knicks' locker room.
Masterson's miscarriage and breakup with Wilder are poorly scripted en route to the predictable reconciliation with Lahti . Like "Penny Serenade", the story resolution is in adoption, but the finale is padded and tedious.
Wilder has his moments in a role that overdoes the crying jags and self-pity. Both Lahti and Masterson remain most appealing actresses in search of challenging roles, not provided here. Jacksoln and Robert Prosky are wasted as Wilder's unlikely parents, while Susan Ruttan overdoes the ditzy routine as Prosky's next wife.
Miles Goodman's jaunty musical score and Fred Murphy's loverly views of the Big Apple make this pill easy to swallow, but it's not Mr. Spock's (or even Dr. Spock's) finest hour.