Starts off promisingly, but fizzles out about halfway through when it seems as if the screenwriters didn't really know what to do with the situation or characters, making this nowhere near as memorable as it could have been. The cast is first-rate, from Garner on down, but why this sharp, brisk business drama had to turn into a romantic farce (complete with misunderstandings) is a mystery to me. Nina Foch, always very welcome to see, is wasted in an unbelievable role as a hotel manager who develops an unfounded crush on Garner, which messes up his romance with Natalie Wood, yadda yadda. (Also, why the silly narration about what happened in Maine? It was as if the writers felt the audience would be confused by a flashback.) A really good cast given an unfocused script. I have to wonder if the movie wouldn't have been vastly improved by dropping the whole Garner-Wood romantic subplot altogether, and just having it be about businessmen dealing with each other - the cast was certainly good enough to carry that sort of story and make it interesting.
Review of Cash McCall
