Nonureva Really Surprised!

Breakinger A Brilliant Conflict

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

mark.waltz Who would think that a mole removal could cause such an ordeal for married couple Lawrence Luckinbill and Dyan Cannon? But it does. As this stupid mole keeps chaffing on Luckinbill's shirt, he decides to have the darn thing taken off his neck. But before you can say, "Calling Dr. Kildare!", he's in a coma, and everybody in Manhattan he knows is anxiously giving blood. Frantic wife Dyan Cannon finds out her husband wasn't so faithful to her, so she goes on a sexual rampage, seducing their photographer friend Ken Howard with limp results and going out of her way to satisfy the doctor friend (James Coco) who operated on Luckinbill in the first place. Portly Coco is hysterical as he tries to get out of his corset without Cannon noticing he has it on. If that visual isn't hysterically gross, try this one on: Burgess Meredith in the buff. Yes, if you were anxiously awaiting a movie where the Penguin bares (almost) all, try this one for size. The star of "Winterset" and "Of Mice and Men" tops his already memorable performance in "Hurry Sundown" with this cameo where Cannon sees the toupee wearing Meredith wearing nothing but a flower over his nipple and what looks like a department store shopping bag covering his privates.Is there a point to all of this? Not really unless it is uncomfortable laughs Otto Preminger, the director of "Laura", "Anatomy of a Murder" and that recent masterpiece "Skidoo" was going for. Much better than that piece of celluloid ragweed, "Such Good Friends" is a comedy of groans with an interesting cast, some wonderful shots of early 1970's Manhattan, and a Blake Edwards sensibility that would make the Pink Panther give himself up to Clouseau. Dyan Cannon plays a totally likable character that seems to judge nobody, least of all her nagging monster of a mother (Nina Foch in a toure de force performance). In fact, she enjoys seeing Meredith in the buff, and agrees to share a dance with him. She is a perfect wife and mother but has no shame of wearing a see-through knit vest with no bra. The bearded Howard, fresh from his triumph as Thomas Jefferson in Broadway's "1776", is also amusing. Of supporting actors, Doris Roberts is instantly recognizable as a hospital visitor who appears in several hospital scenes over several days (wearing the same outfit!). Some veteran stars of "B" movies of the 40's and '50's appear in cameos.Not a great comedy, it is amusing simply by the sheer gall of the writers and director. In fact, fans of the "Airplane!" and "Naked Gun" movies will have to watch it several times to (like those Zucker brother comedy classics) catch every single gag. Others might find making fun of hospitalization, malpractice and possible death offensive.

JasparLamarCrabb Not great, but certainly among the best of director Otto Preminger's later films, SUCH GOOD FRIENDS benefits greatly from a clever screenplay written by Elaine May. Dyan Cannon checks husband Laurence Luckinbill into the hospital to have a mole removed and before he's "released," she finds out way too much about his extramarital dalliances --- what she finds out isn't pleasant. Preminger, whose films usually feature women without virtues, gives Cannon the rare opportunity to carry a film on her own and she's quite possibly perfect! She slowly realizes that her husband is rotten to the core. She's also supplied with a lot of bitchy one-liners by May. The supporting cast is top flight: Nina Foch, Ken Howard, James Coco and Jennifer O'Neill. Also, if you've ever wanted to see Burgess Meredith in the buff, here's your chance.

moonspinner55 A sharp, deadpan-hilarious dark comedy which never found its audience, probably because there are so many different targets set up by the material: modern marriage, adultery, doctors, hospitals, the literary world, sexual fantasies, sexual positions, Jewishness, lesbian experimentation, revenge (maybe feminist revenge) and, of course, the hard work of dying--which brings everything full circle by the finale. Director Otto Preminger chases after the pungent satire in Elaine May's script (under a pseudonym) in every direction, and yet the film doesn't feel scattershot; it is a rude, wicked rose in constant bloom. The wife of a celebrated writer and magazine editor in New York City finds out her husband's been cheating on her within their circle of friends--and this discovery comes while he's in the hospital dying after having had a mole removed! Dyan Cannon delivers one of her best performances; she's glib, bitter, sexy and naughty, which helps viewers overlook the fact the tone of the movie sometimes has an icy pallor. One of Pauline Kael's complaints was that Cannon's character goes after men without seeing the irony of her actions--that she has no self-respect--and this in fact may be true. We never learn where the wife's priorities lie; she's a good mother to her boys, she's a good listener when her friends come around to bitch, but she's too encompassed in thoughts of the past or in trying to stay strong to figure out how being cheated on really makes her feel. Preminger gets fine performances out of a colorful cast, and there are big laughs in the film, but cutting-edge comedies can also cut too deeply without nimble handling. Preminger isn't very careful, but that may be intentional. ***1/2 from ****

alberto-27 29 years before American Beauty, Otto Preminger destroys the icons of american life, from the husband to the mother to the medical doctor, in a vitriolic satire where only the wronged ones gain the viewer's sympathy.Ever asked yourself why you should be faithful to your husband/wife? See this movie. I loved it.