You won't roll on the floor laughing but you won't be sorry you spent 90 minutes with the characters on-screen. Very light and easy to take, brought to a nice level of fun by some very talented actors. Mildred Natwick earned her Oscar nomination; I wonder why Charles Boyer didn't get one, too. Fonda & Redford are both so young its hard to remember they were ever that age.
I lived in a walk-up apartment in Manhattan (fifth floor!)and had to quit smoking so I wouldn't have to have an oxygen tank installed on each floor in order to just make it home every night. I enjoyed reading the 'trivia' section about this movie and find it very interesting that the French version had to change the running joke to the 9th floor; since they are also infamous for smoking, one wonders why elevators were not more popular.
Barefoot in the Park
1967
Action / Comedy / Romance
Barefoot in the Park
1967
Action / Comedy / Romance
Plot summary
New Yorkers Paul Bratter and Corie Bratter née Banks have just gotten married. He is a stuffed shirt just starting his career as a lawyer. She is an independent-minded free spirit who prides herself on doing the illogical purely out of a sense of adventure, such acts as walking through Washington Square Park barefoot when it's 17°F outside. Their 6-day honeymoon at the Plaza Hotel shows that they can get to know each other easily in the biblical sense. But they will see if they can get to know each other in their real life when they move into their first apartment, a cozy (in other words, small),slightly-broken-down top-floor unit in a five-story walk-up. While Corie joyfully bounds up and down the stairs, Paul, always winded after a long day, hates needing to walk up the six flights (including the stairs that comprise the outside front stoop. Beyond the issues with the apartment itself, Paul and Corie must deal with an odd assortment of neighbors, most specifically eccentric senior Victor Velasco, who lives in the unusual attic and considers himself a dirty old man. Corie, worried about her single strait-laced mother Ethel Banks, wants to set her up with Victor. Without Corie or Paul truly realizing it, Ethel and Victor as a twosome is as illogical as Corie and Paul. What happens between Ethel and Victor may predict whether Corie and Paul's marriage can last in the long run.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
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Agreeable entertainment
My favorite Neil Simon film
Paul and Corie (Robert Redford and Jane Fonda) are newlyweds who remind me a lot of Felix and Oscar from "The Odd Couple". This is because although they are in love, their personalities are so very different. He's very conservative and rational and she's very much a bohemian. Not surprisingly, once they are married and the honeymoon is over, the reality of how different they are becomes all the more obvious and the marriage suffers a huge hit. Can they manage to work out their differences and find a middle ground or are they destined for divorce?
This film works so very well because the characters are so well written and fun. In particular, Mildred Natwick and Charles Boyer were joys in the film...lots of fun and quite nice support for Fonda and Redford. Overall, a truly fun and very well written picture...one that is simply hard to dislike.
great laughs from Neil Simon
Corie (Jane Fonda) is a flighty and flustered newly married wife to button-down lawyer Paul Bratter (Robert Redford). The newlyweds are deeply in love. They move into their tiny 5th floor walk up NYC flat. Corie's mother Ethel Banks (Mildred Natwick) surprises them with a visit while the place is still empty. Their upstairs neighbor is the quirky Victor Velasco (Charles Boyer). Corie invites him over secretly setting him up with her mother on a blind date a couple days later. It's a wild night of unfamiliar foods and too much drink. Corie loves it but Paul and Ethel can't stand it.
I love the first hour. It is hilarious and filled with gut-busting laughs. The Neil Simon script is fun frivolity. It lost me a little when Corie starts screaming divorce. It's a really sharp turn and it threw me off. It's opportunity for a hilarious fight. The D word is a step too far. I actually love the silent fight while the telephone guy is fixing the phone. The other thing is that the characters indicate more white bread actors. Corie seems to be a princess while Paul really does need to be a stuff shirt. Neither is a description of Fonda or Redford. However it's still early enough in their careers that they could play these supposed bland characters. Both Natwick and Boyer are delightful.