Pauline Kael

“…. Jane Fonda looks radiant in it, but what does it say about an actress’s judgment to look so relaxed and happy in this picture—a leftover from the Nixon era, another movie telling us we’re all crooked and looking for a bigger piece of the pie?…. The mixture of counterculture politics, madcap comedy, and toilet humor is given the illusion of class by the presence of Jane Fonda and George Segal, and the tinge of smugness they confer on the material. The smile lines around Jane Fonda’s mouth are ingratiating, and her long chestnut hair makes her seem warm and friendly; that’s the extent of her performance. She plays one scene on the commode—probably because that’s the only way anybody could figure out to keep the audience watching the scene…. The attraction of this piece of junk for the stars, and for the producers, … must have been the idea that it would be popular and also “say something.” The more financially secure Hollywood people are, the more they seem to feel the need to teach us the perils of American materialism. Millionaires illustrate greed for us by showing people on the streets grabbing and crawling for a few dollars….”

Pauline Kael
The New Yorker, February 28, 1977
Taking It All In, pp. 270-71