Review of If a Man Answers

This movie didn't work for me on any level. The script is blatantly silly, corny, and contrived, with no pretensions of any kind of realism. Because of that you can't take it as a drama, and it's not funny enough for a comedy, so it's just amusing silliness. The overtly contrived, corny ending was just way too silly. Overall, this style of movie is over the top and therefore distasteful. It features explicit sexual references, a refreshing change from the Doris Day style goodie-goodie veneer that's really all sexual innuendo, but still falls flat having long since lost any shock value. Darin doesn't come across well, he just has no sizzle. Dee doesn't appeal to me, neither as cute, beautiful, funny, charming, nor talented. I like the wardrobe and the tiny waist. The chemistry between them didn't work for me. I didn't feel that they really liked or loved each other. Partly that's because of the ludicrous script and situations. The mom might have been OK but I couldn't get over the lame, almost not even there French accent. The script is crude, using obviously contrived devices to move so effortless among the plot points. They fall in love, marry, argue, and connive with the silliest motivations. The foghorn was ineffective and incomprehensible. Even on repeated play of the cartoon opening and pausing it to study and discuss it, I still feel that the meaning of the foghorn was not obvious enough. It might have been OK for then, but it's only good for nostalgia now.