This is a film that no one seems to remember and it is a real shame. I remember it very clearly, seeing it when I was only 14 years old in 1982. I do not think that it has ever been shown since. It is a real shame that Dick Van Dyke has given so many fine performances in films like The Morning After, The Runner Stumbles and the HBO version of The Country Girl that are so hard to view today. This man is a comic giant (in fact he was influenced by Stan Laurel. Dick told a story on a tv show recently that he was fortunate enough to meet Stan in the early 1960's. He told Mister Laurel that he had copied a lot from him. He said that Mister Laurel just laughed and said "I've noticed!". He gave the eulogy at his funeral in 1965. I think this was a role that was especially written for Dick and that no one could have played it any better then him. It sort of reminds me of one of those Frank Capra movies with the wonderful message that the underdog, the common man is the real hero and that a simple life is really the best life that there is. What a wonderful message! This is why we need to see this movie now more then ever. Dick and Mariette Hartley (a wonderful actress) worked so well together as husband and wife. They just made magic and I remember it to this day. Dick plays a stressed out businessman who decides to chuck it all for a simple and easier life. I will never forget the way that this wonderful movie concluded, it sort of reminded me of Capra's Its A Wonderful Life. Dick and his family sit down and have a simple and traditional Thanksgiving dinner. What a wonderful way to end the film. They need to make this film available.
Review of Drop-Out Father
