The Woman in Red

Let's be honest. This isn't a movie to take all that seriously, and it has to be evaluated on that basis. It's a bit of a thin storyline revolving around quiet ad executive Teddy's attempt to - well - get it on with the beautiful model Charlotte, in spite of the fact that he's happily married, and that Charlotte seems (at least at first glance) somewhat out of his league. Gene Wilder and Kelly Le Brock are the two main characters in this. Wilder was very good, and there were a lot of amusing scenes for him scattered throughout, and some fun moments of misunderstanding with his office colleague Ms Milner (played by Wilder's real-life wife Gilda Radner.) Even knowing that it's coming I can't help but laugh as Milner keys his car because she thinks he stood her up or sends him careening helplessly down one of San Francisco's hills or as he walks down the hall in his fancy new clothes and high fives a colleague with the words "What it is!" Wilder caught the character of Teddy - strangely drawn to Charlotte and yet knowing that he's a happy guy already with his wife Didi (Judith Ivey) and their daughters, and even as he pursues Charlotte, you can almost see the wheels turning in his head as he asks himself "why?" Le Brock (although playing the title character) was less central to the movie, which really revolved more around Teddy and his guy friends (played by Joseph Bologna, Charles Grodin and Michael Huddleston.) She was fine and certainly didn't detract from the movie at all, although I didn't think her performance was especially powerful either.

The movie is a wonderful length - at 1:26 just perfect for a fun little comedy of no great importance. Not to be overlooked are some wonderful songs performed by Stevie Wonder and Dionne Warwick. The only part of the movie I really didn't care for had to do with the character of Shelly (Michael Zorek) - the punk boyfriend of one of Teddy's daughters. The character wasn't likable first of all, especially as he groped at Didi, and the character also served absolutely no purpose to the overall story. Aside from that, it is indeed a fun movie. (7/10)