Seems Like Old Times

source: Seems Like Old Times

Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn. This should be a blast! Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn were two big stars in the 80's, there were few bigger. I know that combining stars doesn't always make a hit, but it will put butts in the seats. This comedy of errors movie was just a series of goofs barely fit for a "I Love Lucy" episode. When Nick (Chevy Chase) is forced at gunpoint to rob a bank in Carmel, California he doesn't know where to go except to his ex-wife Glenda (Goldie Hawn). Glenda is a defense attorney that defends the indigent and underrepresented. Once she defends them she employs them as well to keep them out of trouble. She has a house full of ex-cons and dogs and one very patient husband. She is a rescuer, hence Nick went to her to be rescued. The only problem is Nick is a wanted man and Glenda's husband is a D.A. The movie was too silly for my tastes. I'm not a fan of the comedy of errors movies. Glenda, in her efforts to "help" her ex-husband, looked foolish and unfaithful. Somehow she managed to be a bigger ham than Chevy Chase in this movie. The movie was one long game of keep away as Glenda clumsily and rather simple mindedly tried to hide her ex-husband.

Too bad they don't make movies like this anymore, lighthearted & entertaining.

It does seem like old times when you watch this movie. I think this clever script, & the casting are perfect in this film. Goldie & Chevy Chase play off of each other well. Robert Guillame (TV's Benson) is well cast in support of the straight man who along with the rest of the cast are used to hang a good funny film together well. I think there are only a couple of films where Chevy Chase & Goldie Hawn worked together in as good a situation as they did here. Too bad it didn't happen more often as their chemistry in this one is really great. Now, if only a moose & squirrel showed up in the film & scared old Ira out of his wits, this one can only get funnier. Seems like there are not enough fun times like this film. The technology is now dated in it but most older films have that problem.

I always enjoyed this comedy as a kid and even into my adulthood. Nothing all that spectacular about it, you are not going to be taken on a journey through many places and the plot is not going to have a surprise twist to it. However, it is very funny and that is thanks in large part to Chevy Chase, Goldie Hawn, and Charles Grodin. Though I would say most of the cast is superb in this comedy classic. Chevy Chase plays a guy who was once arrested for a crime that he did not really commit. Seems he is a writer and was doing research for a new book, however he ended up spending time in jail (I think a Mexican prison). Well two guys hijack him at his own home and use him to commit a bank robbery. He becomes a wanted man and ends up trying to find a hideout at his ex-wife's place. His ex-wife who just happens to be married to the DA of either the city this film was set in, or all of California. Do not quite remember which. So we get lots of laughs and Chevy tries to hide and Goldie tries to cover for him and hiding the fact that at times he is right under the bed when Charles Grodin (the DA) is in the room. Lots of near misses and such abound in this one that is for sure. I also found it funny how Goldie Hawn's character kept hiring criminals that she defended in court for odd jobs around the house. Yes, she is a defense attorney, who not only collects ex-cons, but also a whole heck of a lot of dogs. Like I said funny movie thanks to the wonderful chemistry of Goldie and Chevy and wonderful acting from the rest of the cast.

In continuing to review film performances-in chronological order-of "SNL"ers, I'm once again at 1980 with this, this second teaming of Goldie Hawn with that show's first star, Chevy Chase, after previously starring in Foul Play together. This time they're exes with Ms. Hawn a lawyer who defends the downtrodden and Chase a writer who goes to her after being forced to rob a bank. Charles Grodin is Goldie's current hubby who's running for attorney general. Neil Simon wrote this original screenplay as a tribute to the screwball comedies from the '30s and there's plenty of funny zingers courtesy of those three as well as various supporting turns by the likes of Robert Guillaume and Harold Gould as a judge. Oh, and there's lots of dogs to add to the fun. The director is Jay Sandrich who previously helmed such classic sitcoms like "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "Soap" of which Guillaume and Gould are veterans of. I'll just now say this was another very funny teaming of Ms. Hawn and Chase and so on that note, I highly recommend Seems Like Old Times.

I wouldn't say Neil Simon's comic wit is at full steam in this light-hearted comedy, but there are certainly a plethora of laughs to go around. Chevy Chase's Nick Gardenia is offishly matter-of-fact funny as only he can be, a writer and journalist (have you noticed Simon's protagonists are nearly always writers?) of ill-repute who somehow once ended up in a Mexican jail for 2 years and is now on the path to recovery when a couple of bank robbers kidnap and use him for a heist. His mug is prominently featured in the robbery photos and then the fun ensues when he goes to his ex-wife's (Hawn's) house to engender her help after being let go by the robbers and being fully on the run from the law. The movie is mostly fast-paced slapstick farce, a host of retreaded clichés (the dogs, for example), and quick jokes. Charles Grodin is actually quite funny and charming as her straight-arrow District Attorney (soon to be Attorney General) husband, Ira. Given "Midnight Run," I think Grodin should be considered a mint for American glib comedy a la Albert Brooks. It's pointless to go much deeper into the story as the plot merely drives slapstick scenes one into the next. The story is essentially the sum of its parts. Goldie Hawn is in full-tilt cutie mode (she really was a doll) but carries the movie very well as a hopeless do-gooder who wants to help everybody, including her ex-husband and every stray dog in 10 surrounding counties. Chevy Chase often gives the impression of making comedy look effortless (think Fletch), but he is REALLY giving into pratfalling a la his SNL days in this one. The supporting cast with Guillaume and others is excellent. This is completely worth a watch if you catch it as in many ways this movie is superior to the Hawn and Chase hit "Foul Play."

If you want to see a film where Chevy and Goldie are really on top of their game, this is the one! "Seems Like Old Times" couldn't miss, really - here is a script by Neil Simon, a solid comedy cast (Gould as the befuddled judge is a stand-out) and a completely engaging feel for what comedic timing is. There are no slow spots, flat jokes or flopped sight gags anywhere throughout and what can one say about Grodin? He's great, the modern day "stone-face" scores yet again! The lines are endlessly quotable and some are downright classic. My favorite has to be where Goldie has to do some quick thinking to explain to the cops why bank robber/ex-husband Chevy is in the back of her car. When the cops ask her driver (Carter) if he'd seen any of what happened - "No, I came late." To tell anything else would be spoiler enough. This is a film that has to be experienced first-hand to be truly enjoyed. And if you like sight gags, one-liners and either Goldie Hawn, Chevy Chase or Charles Grodin, look no further for your favorite movie. Watch "Seems Like Old Times" - you'll have a GREAT time. Ten stars and a handful of Zagnut bars for this one. And remember - it's never a good idea in court to have a St. Bernard dribble on your briefs.

It is, count'em, 25 years of my loyal fanship to Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase, through thick and thin. "Foul Play" is their first go-round, and "Seems Like Old Times" is equally as timeless and great. For the over 1000 times I have watched "Foul Play" and "Seems Like Old Times," I feel warm, giddy, and romantic every time as I look at this beautiful and funny pair. However, in "Seems Like Old Times," they are divorced. Hawn is the pretty but confused lawyer divorced from klutzy, easygoing novelist Chase turned bank-robbing fugitive and currently married to prim D.A. Charles Grodin. In fact, Hawn is so liberal she aids illegal aliens, a kleptomaniacal black chauffer, and faces the ultimate dilemma: Should she take in her ex-husband and come back and have fun with him or should she stay with her humorless current husband. Both men love her. Chase scoots under every bed due to intimidation by Grodin. Grodin does everything to get rid of Chase. Chase still has loving feelings for Hawn. This causes Hawn titilation, even insomnia with Chase hiding out in their house. When the two men finally meet, sparks fly. Not only do they get into a fistfight during dinner, but a court case looms over. Naturally, Grodin prosecutes Chase and Hawn defends him. Hawn wins. Chase kisses Hawn in front of an exasperated Grodin. Then Hawn and Grodin go away. They have car trouble, and Hawn unexpectedly gets to Chase's cabin in a rainstorm. She smiles at him. But that is the ending. Still, despite some flaws, "Seems Like Old Times" is a timeless small movie for those who want to laugh and fall in love. But why did it flop? Was it hard to accept Hawn and Chase as divorced? But the chemistry is still there, whether they get married or split up. Sure there are several romantic screen teams, such as Hanks and Ryan, Powell and Loy, and Hepburn and Tracy, but it is Hawn and Chase who do it for me and, of course, they are not married to each other in real life, but are married in spirit on screen.

But nothing else is comparable to that Columbia comedy/romance from 1942 wherein Cary tries to hide out in Jean Arthur's house and she tries to keep Ronald Colman from finding out. Part of the problem here is the script. Neil Simon is a very fine writer of screen comedies, as everyone knows, but this is not one of his best efforts. It's all overdone--the humor, the situations, the dogs most of all, the whole plot is a lot of fluffy nonsense. Anybody who thinks this is superior to FOUL PLAY, the previous outing with GOLDIE HAWN and CHEVY CHASE, hasn't got all their marbles. This is so far down the line from that previous comedy that mixed laughs with chills that it's not funny. Neither is the film. Have to give this one a thumbs down for lack of sparkling wit. Goldie and Chevy and CHARLES GRODIN deserve better than this.