Plantiana Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

ShangLuda Admirable film.

Forumrxes Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Scott LeBrun Legendary writer Neil Simons' delightful parody of hard boiled detective fiction (by the likes of Hammett and Chandler) is often quite funny. It does a good job of combining Simons' genuinely funny and witty dialogue with some occasional good visual gags. The movie is packed with big guest stars, some of whom have very little time to create a characterization, but everybody does a very amusing job of poking fun at - and paying tribute to - iconic actors of the genre.Peter Falk does a priceless Bogart impression as private eye Lou Peckinpaugh. Lous' partner has been found murdered, and this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to his latest complex case. (Lou even comments on its convoluted nature.) It involves a French resistance fighter (Fernando Lamas), a Nazi official (Nicol Williamson), the theft of some supposedly invaluable "eggs", the Golden Gate Bridge, and the partners' oversexed wife (Marsha Mason).Sort of combining the plots of "Casablanca" and "The Maltese Falcon" and referencing other classics as well, "The Cheap Detective" does lose some momentum along the way, but there is always good Simon dialogue to look forward to, and the picture is nicely shot in widescreen by John A. Alonzo. The picture takes place in WWII era San Francisco, and has a great look going for it. What's especially funny is the way that Peckinpaugh must juggle the various lovely ladies who take an interest in him.The various guest stars are all tremendous fun, but this viewer was particularly entertained by Dom DeLuises' riotous Peter Lorre parody. In supporting roles and bits, you can see the likes of Carmine Caridi, James Cromwell, Scatman Crothers (sending up Dooley Wilson in "Casablanca"), David Ogden Stiers, Vic Tayback, and Jonathan Banks.This begins nicely, with some atmospheric opening credits, and has a bright and funny wrap up involving Lou and his ladies.Seven out of 10.

SanteeFats I found this movie to be extremely funny. The movie is loaded with iconic actors. It parodies several Bogart films with great humor. The dialogue's are sometimes a little obtuse if you don't know which movies they are coming from. Mostly older film noir movies before a lot of people were born. Peter Falk gets the lead here and is very good as a Bogie impersonator. Several women come and go through out the film, always interacting with Falk and they supply a lot of the funny lines and lead ins. There are just so many actors in this that I could probably fill the line requirement just listing them but I think Madeline Kahn, John Houseman, and Dom DeLuise deserve a mention. At the end it is learned that all the bodies are the result of one widow's (after she kills her husband) poor shooting. She is trying to bump off the women who come in contact with Falk and shoots like a blind person.

cardinalcall Don't bother watching this movie: it's awful. I could have written a funnier screenplay than Neil Simon. Booo. My only regret is that the playwright was not the victim in this detective story.Sid Caesar was not funny; Peter Falk was not funny; Madeline Kahn was not funny; Louise Fletcher was not funny; the who-don-it is the playwright...he murdered this script! Booo.Although I thought "The Odd Couple" and "Max Dugan Returns" were great screenplays written by Simon, I think he wrote a number of not-too-clever and not-too-funny plays despite the casting of some notable actors and actresses.My only puzzlement is: why did these big name actors and actresses agree to do this script? Was it to pay their income taxes? Aren't actors and actresses supposed to have some standards for the quality of the scripts and the materials? As Alfred, the Macy janitor in "Miracle on 34th Street" said: 'Yeah, there's a lot of bad 'isms' floatin' around this world, but one of the worst is commercialism. Make a buck, make a buck. Even in Brooklyn it's the same ... just make a buck, make a buck.' Well, Alfred, even in Hollywood it appears to be the same - don't care what cinema and art stands for, just make a buck, make a buck.

ctyankee1 There are lots of stars in this film and all are very funny.Lots of women and they all are attracted to Peter Falk, the Cheap detective whose partner was murdered.The scenes in the beginning are very funny. 5 people are killed and they all die in the position they were in when it happened and they all are shot in the head. Their eyes were open as if they were still alive and if they were reading the paper or drinking that is the position they died in with the glass or paper still in their hand.I would have rated it higher there was no swearing accept for a minor word like "ass" no sexual stuff either. One hour and 26 minutes into the film Louise Fletcher who plays Fernando Lamas' wife tell Peter Falk to "give him the God D mn papers"- to her husband.This I found very offensive so I rated it low. There was no reason for swearing God's name. The movie was about 1 hr 32 minutes it was almost over and quite funny, I won't watch it again unless I could remove those few minutes in the film.