Please don't spend money on this.

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

25 years before Robert DeNiro terrorized Ben Stiller in "Meet the Parents" and its two sequels, it was the bride's father terrorized here, ironically by the groom's papa, and he loves it! At first bride papa Alan Arkin thinks groom papa Peter Falk is a lunatic, but the adventure Arkin ends up on wakes him up and brings out his adventurous side, having lacked it in his life as a Manhattan dentist. Falk is involved in a bizarre plot involving the American treasury and a few South American countries, one of them who has a truly wacky dictator (Richard Libertini). From a shoot-out in mid-day midtown Manhattan to a sudden trip to Libertini's country, Arkin and Falk not only risk missing the wedding but their lives as well, desperate to get back in time to give the bride and groom a wedding day that they will never forget.Fast-moving, funny, adventurous, and a definite crowd pleaser, this variation of the "Silver Streak" theme (two opposites paired together in some bizarre caper) is perfectly cast with the dead-pan Arkin not quite so staid but in need of some zest in his life, and Falk a fun-loving lunatic with bizarre qualities of his own who brings Arkin out of his shell. Libertini, the dictator with a "Senor Wences" like hand puppet, has his Spanish speaking army singing American ditties while having a business lunch. TV and Broadway favorite Nancy Dussault ("Too Close For Comfort") has some nice moments as Arkin's suburban wife.A chase through Manhattan is worth seeing just for visions of how the city has (and has not) changed over the past 30 years. Having seen this in the theatre back in 1979, I had remembered the chemistry between Falk and Arkin, which hasn't depleted, and its bouncy musical theme, one which out of nowhere would pop into my head over the years even though I hadn't seen it since then.

Whether you are talking about the Guacomoly Act of 1907, or flies with beaks, there are uncountable lines from "The In-Laws" that bear repeating. Alan Arkin absolutely steals the movie with his deadpan bewilderment. The scene where Peter Falk rambles on about flies carrying away little brown babies is priceless as Arkin simply rolls his eyes in amazement. "Oh God don't let me die on West 31st. Street". "Four years at Mt. Holioke, so she can marry into this?" It just goes on and on. Arkin's comatose expression as the airline attendant is going over the airline safety rules in a foreign language is hilarious. Then when Arkin does speak "It's over the ocean to Scranton Pennsylvania?" Quite simply, "The In-Laws is one truly funny movie, that is infinitely quotable and very re-watchable. - MERK

The writing and casting are excellent. Falk and Arkin play their characters perfectly. The key here is they didn't follow what has become somewhat cliché in comedies.Arkin's character, today, would be an over the top neurotic. While I haven't seen the remake, Albert Brooks' casting indicated to me that they went that way. He's successful upper middle class dentist with a loving wife and daughter. He had no problems with the upcoming wedding until he meets Falk. Also, none of the things that go wrong in his life are attributable to him. He's truly a normal guy wrapped up in a crazy situation that's far from his "safe zone". He even manages to adapt somewhat well until the firing squad scene.With Falk's Vince Ricardo, they didn't go with a guy cracking jokes, an over the top tough/professional guy, or the crazy guy. He was a normal guy who has an extraordinary job. He's been at it so long, none of it phases him, because it's normal for him. His funny lines come from treating these situations as everyday occurrences. He can babble about pea soup after being shot at because it's like a train being late to him. He's not funny because he's trying to be funny. He's funny because he's completely calm in an outrageous situation. The only time he breaks this is during the dinner scene where he yells at his son. It's there that you realize he's paid a price for his secret life.

It is interesting to note, Andrew Bergman wrote the script for this one and the recent remake starring Michael Douglas. This is by far the better version. There are several reasons for that.Arthur Hiller's Direction is definitely better in this one over the newer version. Then there is the more talented cast as Peter Falk and Alan Arkin are definitely more talented than the cast in the remake. It is not that Douglas is not talented, but that he does not fit his character as well as the original actor. Douglas is saddled with an inferior director in the new one too. It is a wonder they didn't get Tim Burton since he is the King of bad remakes, but you can't always get the best of the worst.The main thing is that this was an original and fresh material version of this film. When the remake was made, it did not get a fresh approach, it stuck with the original. In doing so, it fell flat because imitation is not always the sincerest form of flattery. Peter Falk is most known as Columbo, but this is one of several comedy films he made. Falk does Comedy well and this film is no exception. His teaming with Arkin here is inspired & produces very good results.When watching this film the recent loss of Peter Faulk is felt even more as he is incredible in this as the opposite of Columbo, just winging it without regards to details. The results are so funny.