The first must-see film of the year.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Bob Wiley is a severe hypochondriac. His life is ruled by his fear of germs, going outside and his bladder exploding. When he meets his new therapist, the egotistical Leo Marvin, he starts to feel better about his fears. However, that's all dashed when Marvin tells Bob he's going on vacation for a month. Desperate and unable to deal with this, Bob follows Leo and his family to their vacation spot on the lake. Now, this may sound like a stalker movie-but trust me, it's anything but that."What About Bob?" is one of those incredibly underrated comedies that everyone seemed to have watched back when it came out ($60 million against a $30 million budget), but no-one seems to remember watching. It's quite a shame really, because the unlikely pairing of Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss is excellent. It's sort of your standard snob vs. slob story, but with the twist of patient vs. doctor. In some ways it's sort of a modern day "The Odd Couple". Bob is an absolute mess, whereas Dr. Marvin is (or at least he thinks he is) perfect in every way. The only legitimate complaint with the film is that Leo Marvin's anger towards Bob Wiley is too much too soon. It would have been nice to see Marvin's anger slowly build and build and build to it culminating to Marvin introducing Bob to "death therapy". But, that one gripe aside, "What About Bob?" needs to be seen. It's underrated, smart and incredibly funny.

The "Odd Couple" pairing is a trope that has been done countless times by now. What makes this movie work is Bill Murray & Richard Dreyfuss' chemistry. Apparently the two didn't like each other on set but this plays perfectly into this film. Murray's antics had me laughing out loud numerous times. This is one of the best roles I've seen him play. Dreyfuss plays his role perfectly as the uptight psychologist. It's these two men's performances that really makes this an enjoyable film to watch.I don't think anyone considers this film a classic as far as comedies go but it's a fun time with some good jokes. The end is a bit too campy for my taste and not all the jokes land but Murray's performance is good enough to warrant a recommend out of me.

"What about Bob" is one of the funniest movies ever made about people and their "analysts." The humor with the two male leads playing off one another, is very good. But interwoven in that is an obvious spoofing of the psyche professions. Richard Dreyfuss is Dr. Leo Marvin, a psychiatrist. Bill Murray is his patient, Bob Wiley. All of the roles of the Marvin family and others are played very well. And, they contribute some to the comedy. But this is really a love-hate comedy between Bob and Leo. The IMDb Web site and some reviewers give information about the various actors first sought or preferred for the main roles, especially that of Dr. Marvin. I couldn't see Woody Allen, Robin Williams or any other actor in that role, because they are of the same comedic ilk as Bill Murray. The comedy works only because there is a clash of characters. There has to be a straight man in this case, and I can't imagine anyone playing that role better than Dreyfuss does here. There's also considerable discussion of the dislike for one another between the two leads during the filming. That's all the more in favor of the match. Murray's role is very funny, as we would expect of Bill Murray. But much of it is only effective because of how it affects Leo. Dreyfuss shows his wonderful acting talent in the role he plays. It's a much more challenging task than that of Murray. This is a film of mostly crazy situations or encounters that lead to laughter. It has a few witty lines of dialog tossed in here and there. One of my favorite – and the proof that this film is a satire of the psychoanalysis fields, is when Leo and Fay step aside to talk privately. She asks, "Why are you so hostile to the man?" Leo replies, "Because he's a patient." Reading between the lines, that says that doctors and other analysts are supposed to be hostile to the patients who come to them for help and healing. I laughed out loud at that one. Much of this movie was shot in Virginia where Smith Mountain Lake stood in for New Hampshire's Lake Winnipesaukee. The scenery shots are beautiful. Other viewers in the Trivia section and in comments point out the differences in trees especially between the two locales – of southern Virginia and central New Hampshire. Most adults and older children should find this film enjoyable.

In fact, it is such light entertainment it is one of the few films that mental hospitals will let their patients watch! And no, I don't know this because I was an inmate.It's the story of two men - Bob and Dr.Leo Marvin. Bob is a man so tied up in his obsessive compulsions he can barely move. Thus he works at home in NYC and lives a simple life. However, he does see the value of therapy and apparently has been through a number of psychiatrists, all of whom he pesters to the point that they pass him off to someone else and leave town.The latest doctor to be duped into taking Bob (Bill Murray) as a patient is Dr. Leo Marvin (Richard Dreyfuss). He has precisely one session with Bob, gives him a copy of his latest book - "Baby Steps", and tells him he will see him next month because he is going on vacation. This sends Bob into a panic because the one constant in his life has been his tenacious hold on his series of psychiatrists. Bob's decision - he will "baby step" his way to New Hampshire and go on vacation where Dr. Marvin is.Now you see, Bob is actually quite likable to anybody who is NOT a psychiatrist, and he quickly bonds to Dr. Marvin's family and even helps the Marvins' son with some of his hang-ups in a way that Leo has never been able to do. You also have to realize that, like Bob, Leo is a guy with a lot of rigid rules about everything himself. In many ways he is as hung up as Bob is, but in socially acceptable ways. The result is that Bob violating all of Dr. Marvin's rules slowly drives Dr. Marvin nuts, while basically adopting Dr. Marvin's family makes Bob much better.I'll let you watch and see how this all turns out. Let me just say that this is not One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - it is a comedy for the entire family and a very good one at that. A ten year old could watch it and not be stressed. Kids much younger than that could watch it, but they just might not get it. Highly recommended.