Movie review: ‘The In-Laws’ (1979)

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Peter Falk and Alan Arkin offer solid chemistry in “The In-Laws” from 1979, but, with Falk’s character a little more retiring, it is Arkin who blazes the trail for both as they banter and bicker across the screen for most of this film. “The In-Laws” isn’t a buddy film, but it kind of turns into one; it isn’t an action film, but it sure has a lotta gunfire that never hits much; and you see every plot twist and turn ahead of time and will not be surprised at any moment. However, the two are buddies, whether Arkin likes it or not; there’s a bunch of slapstick action; and the plot of “The In-Laws” doesn’t really matter. All of this makes “The In-Laws” a watchable flick.

‘The In-Laws’
(1979; 103 minutes; rated PG; directed by Arthur Hiller and starring Peter Falk, Alan Arkin and Richard Libertini)

THE ART OF BICKER, BANTER

(NOTE: I updated the review on Aug. 2, 2023, because of the death of co-star Alan Arkin.)

Five years before “The In-Laws” in 1979, Alan Arkin played the excitable half of a buddy team with James Caan in “Freebie and the Bean” (click here for my review). Although a dentist in “The In-Laws” and not a cop as in “Freebie,” Arkin again gets to be the frustrated, excitable member, but this time with Peter Falk. Just as importantly, he’s even better in “The In-Laws.”

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It’s interesting that writer Andrew Bergman said he intended “The In-Laws” to be a sequel to “Freebie and the Bean.” However, I’m glad “Freebie” wasn’t resurrected and that “The In-Laws” stands on its own. Just forget the “reboot” (I intentionally put quote marks around the word to highlight my distaste for “reboots”) as, like the vast majority of “reboots,” it stinks.

In the original film, Arkin and Falk are brought together by the pending marriage of Falk’s son and Arkin’s daughter. However, unlike Arkin as “Dr. Sheldon ‘Shelley’ Kornpett,” Falk as “Vince Ricardo” is pretty much an absent parent because he’s an operative for the Central Intelligence Agency. Of course, no one knows this, even Falk’s family. Again and of course, the wedding brings the two together and Falk uses the family coincidence to rope Arkin into a loopy string of adventures for his current mission for the CIA.

In short, Falk has used organized crime to rob the U.S. Mint of plates to make currency. It’s all part of a plot to stop an international attempt to screw up finances (the group had already stolen plates from other countries’ minting operations). He must get through a couple of days and winds up needing someone to help him that the “other side” doesn’t know – hence, getting Arkin involved.

Faulk blusters through every scene of “The In-Laws” with ridiculous, over-the-top lies about … well, just about everything. At first, Arkin smothers his disbelief and growing anger with Falk, but, in no time, he’s digging in and taking his own shots … all which, naturally, bounce off Falk like so many ineffectual raindrops.

The two wind up on a fictional island where the financial plot is coming to a head and meet a quite psychotic and schizophrenic bad guy, who is a general in that country’s military. The CIA comes to the rescue in the end at a most agonizingly long firing squad scene and all’s well that ends well and Falk is shown to only be a partial liar about things and that he really was working on a real CIA case.

Great! Also, the two guys also make off with $5 million each, courtesy of Falk scamming the general. Well, no one said that Falk was completely honest!

Here’s my look at the top of the cast:

  • An Oscar winner and three-time nominee, Arkin is the fire to all the fuel that is constantly added by Falk. Arkin’s concern, misgivings and outright frustration grows every second after meeting Falk and he winds up basically resisting what he absolutely believes will be his ultimate fate. The filmmakers couldn’t have found a better actor to project the character of “Dr. Kornpett” and the audience reaps the reward. Arkin, who also is a Golden Globe winner and seven time nominee, won his Oscar for 2006’s “Little Miss Sunshine” and was nominated for Oscars for “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter” from 1968, “The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!” from 1968 and “Argo” from 2012. I also enjoyed him in a small part in “Grosse Pointe Blank” (click here for my review). He was truly excellent in the tremendous “Glengarry Glen Ross” and managed to do solid work in the extremely crappy “reboot” of “Going in Style” from 2017 with Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman (click here for my review). Arkin died at 89 in June 2023 of heart ailments.
  • A two-time Oscar nominee (not for this one) and Golden Globe winner (not for this one) and 10-time nominee, Falk is simply faultless in delivery of a lie every time he opens his mouth. He plays the part of “Vince Ricardo” about as good as it could get by being understated with all his lies and explanations. Falk, despite the obvious lies and bullcrap, manages to be likable and watchable throughout the film as Arkin’s ire rises to the boiling point. Of course, Falk is best known as TV’s great detective “Lt. Columbo” (his first name is never spoken in the episodes, but in one an ID badge shows “Frank” as his first name), and he was a four-time winner and six-time nominee for Primetime Emmys for the role. His Oscar nominations were for “Murder, Inc.” from 1960 and “Pocketful of Miracles” from 1961. Falk died at 84 in 2011 of complications from pneumonia and Alzheimer’s Disease).
  • Richard Libertini plays “Gen. Garcia” and he does the twisted dictator very well, especially the hand-puppet routine. Libertini had the physical and vocal routines of a psycho down pat and is nothing but interesting every moment he’s on-screen. Any number of actors could have played this part, but none could have conveyed it with such aplomb. I also liked Libertini as the editor in “Fletch” with Chevy Chase (click here for my review) and he had an extensive resume of most major TV shows in the 1970s and 1980s. Libertini died at 82 in 2016 of cancer.
  • An Oscar nominee (not for this one), David Paymer is “Cab Driver” in his first movie credit. Paymer does a great job just listening to Faulk and reacting to the stuff the CIA agent keeps spouting. Paymer, who actually drove the cab for the film after not having driven for two years, is the perfect choice as a temporary foil to Faulk. I also enjoyed his work as the longsuffering resort critic in “Ocean’s Thirteen” (click here for my review) and he has been on a variety of TV series for his 177 acting credits spanning six decades since the first in 1978 to the latest in 2022. I also liked his work in Robert Redford’s excellent “Quiz Show.”

As for the rest of the cast? Ah, none do a memorable job, but, at the same time, don’t fall flat and detract from the film. I guess that’s a vote of confidence in any movie. I’ll dispense with any long-form explanation of the actor and his or her job, but do give a quick run through …

  • Penny Peyser playes bride “Barbara Kornpett” and does an acceptable job with the character. However, she doesn’t get much chance to expand the character (just like everyone else who follows in this part of my review). However, not being a drag on the film is a major plus. Peyser has worked continually since her first credit with “All the President’s Men” (click here for my review) and on a variety of TV franchises.
  • Michael Lembeck plays groom “Tommy Ricardo” and does nothing with his character. Lembeck has more credits as a director as an actor, with his acting credits dating back to a “Gidget” TV movie and a Clint Eastwood western in the late 1960s.
  • Nancy Dussault plays “Carol Kornpett” and like others in this category, doesn’t manage to elevate her character. She has a thin resume of only 31 acting credits spanning six decades from the first in 1968 – and the last for a short in 2016 after the final TV series episode in 2001. Wonderfully, she did an episode of my favorite TV series: “The Love Boat” (click here for my look at that kitschy show).
  • Arlene Golonka plays Falk’s wife “Jean Ricardo” and does even less than Dussault with her character. However, in her defense, Golonka got even less to work with than Dussault. Golonka had 121 acting credits spanning six decades from her first in 1959 to the last in 2005. Golonka also did a cruise on “The Love Boat.” She died at 85 in 2021 of complications from Alzheimer’s disease.
  • A seven-time Primetime Emmy nominee, Ed Begely Jr. plays CIA agent “Barry Lutz” and is immediately forgettable as the film’s credits roll. However, like the others, he’s OK and doesn’t detract from the film. Begely was nominated six times for the TV classic “ Elsewhere” and once for “ctrl alt delete.”

You won’t find any of director Author Hiller’s touches from his direction of the classic “Love Story” with IL. Yet again, you also won’t find parts from his excellent yet underrated “Teachers” with Nick Nolte or “Author! Author!” with Al Pacino. However, neither of those films will give you “serpentine” (watch “The In-Laws;” you’ll come to understand the reference).

Hiller worked Bergman’s script as well as you can expect and, once you suspend a little disbelief in such things as a killer firing his gun a bunch of times without hitting anyone, you’ll have no trouble enjoying this film. As a side note, Hiller, who was a native of Canada, passed at 92 in 2016.

“The In-Laws” was the No. 17 film at U.S. box offices with $38.2 million in ticket sales in 1979, according to TheNumbers.com. Interestingly, it was just ahead of “All That Jazz” (one of my favorite films of that year) and the No. 1 film was the overrated snifflebag “Kramer vs. Kramer” at $106.2 million. Coming in second and third, respectively, were “The Amityville Horror” and “Rocky II.” Here is a list of films from 1979 that I’ve reviewed for my blog:

Assorted cast and film notes (via IMDb.com):

  • Fran Drescher was the original bride-to-be, but was fired shortly after filming began. She said later that she was devastated, but told later that she was fired because some thought she was too funny! Thankfully, she used that comedic turn to better use in “The Hollywood Knights” a year later (click here for my review of that one).
  • Directly from IMDb.com: “General Garcia is imitating Señor Wences with his hand puppet, who is probably best known for his 48 appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show (1948).”
  • After the release in 2003 of the film’s “reboot” co-starring Michael Douglas and Albert Brooks, Arkin called Falk and congratulated him that critics were pointing out the original’s good work while calling the “reboot” just so much crap.
  • Barbara Dana, who was married to Arkin in 1979, plays a bank teller.
  • The majority of extras who made up the flood of CIA agents rescuing Arkin and Falk at the end of the film were medical school students studying in the city in Mexico where the scene was filmed.
  • Finally and directly from IMDb.com: “In the 2003 DVD commentary, Alan Arkin relates that Marlon Brando once told him he had seen this film 20 times and even imitated Arkin’s delivery of certain lines from the film. Writer Andrew Bergman contends that Brando’s appreciation of his script was integral to getting Brando to star in The Freshman (1990).”

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