It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time

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It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time
Starring: Lloyd Bochner , John Candy , Lawrence Z. Dane , Yvonne De Carlo , and Isaac Hayes
Director: John Trent
Manufacturer: Trinity Home Ent
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00097E6S6
Release Date: 2005-05-03

Description

Synopsis: John Candy heads up a hysterical cast in this laugh a minute tale of a jealous husband and his attempts to keep his wife from leaving him. When Skeet, played by Anthony Newley, vows to stop at nothing to win back his wife, he signs up for more than he bargained for and one by one his bungled plans descend into comedic chaos!

It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time: Stephanie Powers, Isaac Hayes, John Candy

Average customer rating:

Silly yet fun!

It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time: Stephanie Powers, Isaac Hayes, John Candy

Manufacturer: Beverly Wilshire Filmworks/Telefilms International
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Armed & Dangerous (Ws)

ASIN: B00008G5C4

Customer Reviews:

Silly yet fun!.......1999-11-02

A great cast including Stefanie Powers, Lloyd Bochner, John Candy, Anthony Newley, Yvonne DeCarlo and Isaac Hayes. Newley's escapades are hilarious and it's fun to see these well known actors in a show before they were famous.

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Just For Laughs
Starring: Just for Laughs
Manufacturer: Legacy Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Just for Laughs - Gags: Volume 1
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ASIN: B0002UCLM8
Release Date: 2005-03-02

Product Description

4 Feature Films on DVD. Danny Devito & Rhea Perlman in "The Mogul" (Not Rated). Goldie Hawn & Giancarlo Giannini in "Lovers & Liars" (Rated R). Tom Selleck, Morgan Fairchild, & Barbara Mandrell in "Ramblin Man" (Rated R). John Candy, Isaac Hayes & Stefanie Powers in "It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time" (Rated) PG.

[DVD] Double Feature: It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time (1975) + There Goes The Bride (1980)

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[DVD] Double Feature: It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time (1975) + There Goes The Bride (1980)

Manufacturer: Family Value Collection
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Product Description

It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time (1975) There Goes the Bride (1980) A nervous ad executive (Tom Smothers) creates havoc on his daughter's wedding day and becomes obsessed with a dream girl (Twiggy) he keeps seeing everywhere but whom he can't catch.

Average customer rating:

No, it didn't

It Seemed like a Good Idea at the Time
Starring: Lloyd Bochner , John Candy , Lawrence Z. Dane , Yvonne De Carlo , and Isaac Hayes
Director: John Trent
Manufacturer: Legacy Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00077BOGK
Release Date: 2005-03-01

Customer Reviews:

No, it didn't.......2005-07-31

Absolutely Godawful. To get you into the right frame of mind, IT SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA AT THE TIME (1975) is a movie where, when being squirted with a mellow stream of water, nobody has the sense to simply take one step to the left or right to get out of the way. They just stand there flapping their lips, looking shocked while the good guys laugh up a storm.

Always be wary when a movie or book contains a "signal from Fred". When it exists right there in the title, you know you're in for trouble. The movie title should not be the film's primary excuse.

And yet, not only do I have that objection to the title (surely no part of this seemed like a good idea), I'm not even sure what it refers to at the story level. What plot point is supposed to have seemed like a good idea? The kidnapping idea? I'm baffled at what else it could mean, but even that doesn't fit.

I'm getting ahead of myself. The story concerns Anthony Newley as an unappealing slacker and his generic ex-wife, played by Stephanie Powers. The Digiview version of this DVD release erroneously states that Newley tries "to have Powers get involved with a local politician". This is false. Clearly whoever wrote it wasn't paying much attention to the film (I can't blame them). Newley's motivation is, in fact, to get her as far away as possible from the politician (and also away from her current husband).

Indeed, the early comedic set pieces involve Newley's sabotage of the budding romance. This includes some "hilarious" hijinks involving Newley bringing a bunch of far-out party-animals to a stuffy formal event (after first slipping laxatives into the food, naturally), and later setting a skunk loose in a cabin. Yes, we aren't talking about the most original gags here. The sad part is they aren't even executed well. It's tired comedy pulled off rather poorly. It has the added indignity of not making any logical sense either. How the hell do you pull someone's suit pants completely off without his noticing? And what pharmaceutical company sells their laxative products in a container that freaking huge? If you need to buy your laxatives by the gallon, there's something seriously wrong with your diet.

The incidental music has been fiercely criticized for sounding absolutely over the top and distracting. It's bad enough to have unfunny jokes thrown at you, but do you really want to hear loud, obnoxious musical cues blasting out of your speakers to remind you that you're supposed to be laughing? I'm glad I'm too much of a luddite to own a high-performance surround-sound system; I'd have been deafened. Between the goofy trombone effects to the electronic farting noises, I could only dream of dignified silence

To distract me from the mind-numbing tedium, I started playing a little game. A plot point involves an upper class twit running for mayor, so I tried to figure out what city it was. We're never told directly; I looked for clues. First of all, Newley has a distinct London cockney accent. On the other hand, Powers speaks with a generic California/Hollywood accent. Her husband attempts a Noo Yawk accent. Several of the characters near the start of the film employ Northeastern US accents (think Connecticut or Massachusetts).

So, where is this movie set? With this mixture of accents, I was stumped. But then a major clue emerged. The politician's license plate is visible in one shot. And the plate reads... Ontario.

Er, well, I'm sure that clears things up.

So, is this guy planning to run for mayor of Toronto? Or were the visible Ontario tags merely a mistake that should never have appeared on film?

Am I putting more thought into the specifics of the movie's fictional setting than the filmmakers did? Probably.

The script has a lot of flaws and unexplained moments. Why, for example, does Newley hate that dog? Why is Power's husband so intent on knocking down his mother-in-law's house? (We aren't even given a greedy reason why he might wish to do so. There's no oil on the land. No big strip mall that needs building on her lot. He's apparently just doing it because he's evil.)

Multiple companies have released this film on DVD, and all of them capitalize on the fact that beloved comedian John Candy has a part in this film. Despite the impression you may get from the packaging, do not buy this movie on the understanding that Candy has a large role. He does not. This film is 91 minutes; Candy's character doesn't even show up until minute 55. He has very few lines.

There are few rays of hope. Isaac Hayes -- in the "best friend" role -- seems to have enjoyed himself. Unfortunately, while this does make the film a little more entertaining, watching someone else enjoying himself isn't quite as much fun as actually enjoying yourself. I could appreciate that Hayes was having fun. I just wish I'd been able to do the same.

Oh, and Stephanie Powers' mother is fun. It took me a little while to figure out who she is. But once I did, I had to laugh (one of the few laughs the picture provides). It's Yvonne de Carlo -- TV's Lily Munster. She's not just amusing for kitsch value; she's actually quite funny.

Yeah, this movie would be vastly improved by cutting out everything except Isaac Hayes' sculpturing scenes and the sequences of Lily Munster taking potshots at a lawyer with a shotgun. This really is a film that only its mother could love and reinforces the rule that there's nothing worse than a comedy that isn't funny. Oh, and the Digiview version clips off a few seconds of the opening animation, but I'm not going to complain about having less of this movie to see.

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ASIN: B000FC2G46
Release Date: 2006-04-07

Before They Were Famous: It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time/Choice

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Before They Were Famous: It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time/Choice
Starring: Before They Were Famous 2pak
Manufacturer: Legacy Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0009X57U6
Release Date: 2005-03-02

Average customer rating:

It Seemed Like a Good Idea At the Time
Starring: John Candy
Manufacturer: Braun Media
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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