Molly Haskell

“Given this by now standard but ugly caper philosophy and the fact that Kotcheff’s direction is more of a liability than an asset, it’s amazing that Fun With Dick and Jane averts disaster and exudes charm as often as it does. For this, I think there is one big and one little reason, and their names are Fonda and Segal: together they generate sparks reminiscent of the sexy-romantic screwball comedy partners of the ‘30s.

“… Fonda is outrageously, deliciously, effortlessly wonderful. From the moment she appears, we know that she hs not only grown in talent, timing, and beauty, but has acquired that nth power that great movie actresses have—a way of going about their business without looking over their shoulders because they assume you are there, with them. They don’t have to reach, nudge, spell things out, communicate, because through some magical combination of generosity and confidence tinged with indifference they bring you into their lives, rather than straining to impress themselves upon yours.

“Wearing a cute little jean suit, she is standing at the bottom of an empty swimming pool, surrounded by noisy workmen. She looks up, sees her husband and says, in words we must lip-read because of the din, “You’re home early, darling.” She doesn’t pantomime the words, or exaggerate the syllables, but says them in a normal voice, as if we could hear her, and we do. From then on, without ever straining, she creates a whole, captivating character. Despite grotesque traps laid for her (a clumsy, out-of-character fashion show scene that is the most damning directorial gaffe in the film; a toilet episode, whose only conceivable raison d’etre is that it has never been done before, and whose only virtue is that now we’ve gotten it over with), despite incongruities in the script making her too hip for the Babbitts who surround her, Fonda herself is never condescending. The film is, but it also—to give credit where it is due—provides her with witty lines that actresses of late have gone begging for.

“Fonda fans know she can do anything, but only those who saw her with Redford in Barefoot in the Park (can you imagine Redford deigning to perform again in such “fluff”?) know that this is the kind of part nobody else can do. The sexy, funny girl has become a woman, and she is more exciting than ever. A star who is glamorous, kooky, sensual, grown-up, funny, and intelligent—how few there have been. [It seems to me that most stars are these.] In the past, we had Carole Lombard, Irene Dunne, Myrna Loy. But comic goddesses are a species so rare that we do not presume to complain that there are not more; we are only grateful, when one comes along, that such creatures exist at all.”

Molly Haskell
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