The only good thing in this flop is Matthau himself, due to his ever-reliable acting. It looks like a high school student's first film-making project.
The script is halfway digestible, but forget it as a film overall. The physical quality of the film is poor, rendering a hard-to-watch amateurish mess that looks like it was shot in Super 8 B&W.
Some aspects of the directing are good, such as continuity, camera angles, consistent characterizations, balance of lighting throughout, good splices between medium shots and close-ups, and between location long shots and close-up's, etc. But this is not enough to negate the schlockiness factor. The term "campy" camps in this film.
The casting was, for the most part, amateurish. With a big-name cast and higher quality filming, and maybe a slightly punched-up script, it might have gotten a few feet off the ground.
There is enough good acting on Matthau's part, and that of his girlfriend (played by his newlywed real-life wife, Carol Grace), to somehow help you struggle through this weak effort at cinematography, just to see how in the world it could possibly end. And it does end with an unusual surprise.
The script is halfway digestible, but forget it as a film overall. The physical quality of the film is poor, rendering a hard-to-watch amateurish mess that looks like it was shot in Super 8 B&W.
Some aspects of the directing are good, such as continuity, camera angles, consistent characterizations, balance of lighting throughout, good splices between medium shots and close-ups, and between location long shots and close-up's, etc. But this is not enough to negate the schlockiness factor. The term "campy" camps in this film.
The casting was, for the most part, amateurish. With a big-name cast and higher quality filming, and maybe a slightly punched-up script, it might have gotten a few feet off the ground.
There is enough good acting on Matthau's part, and that of his girlfriend (played by his newlywed real-life wife, Carol Grace), to somehow help you struggle through this weak effort at cinematography, just to see how in the world it could possibly end. And it does end with an unusual surprise.