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So much average

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

It's a little hard going all the way back to 1978 as I had to tonight watching foul play again for about the dozenth time. I've always enjoyed this movie, and felt like it really symbolized that era well. Chevy Chase and Goldi Hawn were both in their prime then, and their little affair had a lot of good chemistry. As a comedy suspense thriller, this movie suits the genre really well. The pacing seemed a little slow to me this time around, and the dialogue weaker than I expected. But there are so many memorable scenes here. This was back when feminism, political correctness and the swinger lifestyle were all sort of new and topical. And so some of the best scenes revolved around those themes. Also, we have a lot of colorful characters to offset goldie's ditsy blandness. In fact, one of the characters was actually devoid of any color at all in a literal sense i.e. he was an albino. This guy's albino eyes really gave him an unusually sinister quality. And then there was Dudley Moore who almost stole the comedy spotlight from Chevy Chase. No small feat there. But the circus like cast of villains was important to the plot, as early on Goldie comes across as a lunatic for mentioning plots to kill her involving unseen dwarfs, albinos, etc. All very funny. Anyway, in retrospect, Goldie is not given much of a script though, while the dwarf and Dudley Moore provide the best comic relief aside from Chevy who plays his usual droll self.A spoiler would be needed to talk about what happens near the end. There is not much meat to the murder suspense subplot, but thankfully, there are other surprises here and there that will make you smile. Rounding out this blast from the past is Barry Manilows famous song about going for it.If you've ever seen the classic horror thriller "wait until dark" starring Audrey Hepburn, Foul Play is at times reminiscent of it early on, only not so terrifying. It's a good thing, as Foul Play is really more about comedy than suspense, and the Batmanesque cast of villains encourages you to not take it all too seriously. And with Dudley Moore famous swinger pad scene early on, you're definitely laughing more than you are clutching your chair. I've played a clip of that on YouTube many, many times and never tire of Dudleys performance.So, two thumbs up. Vintage Chevy and Goldie, while Brian Dennehy also puts in a nice appearance.

San Francisco librarian Gloria Mundy (Goldie Hawn) leaves a party and picks up hitchhiker Scott. He's being followed and he plants a roll of film with Gloria in a cigarette pack. They meet later at the movies but he is dead. Gloria is being hunted by an albino. She seeks help from sleazy stranger Stanley Tibbets (Dudley Moore). After attacked at her home, she is visited by police detectives Tony Carlson (Chevy Chase) and Fergie (Brian Dennehy). Neither they nor her landlord Mr. Hennessey (Burgess Meredith) believe her outlandish story. It's a wild conspiracy with the Pope in town.I like the first half with Gloria clueless to what's happening and nobody believing in her. The humor does clash with the thriller action parts of the movie. It keeps it from fully working. The funniest is the old Japanese Kojak couple. Moore, Hawn, and Chase seems to be operating with different levels. The various tones don't always compliment each other.

This was the first movie that I found Chevy Chase funny, and the first movie that I found Goldie Hawn attractive. I'm of the opinion that Hawn got more and more attractive as she got older, peaking in the "Bird On A Wire" and "HouseSitter" era. Plot In A Paragraph: Recent divorcée Gloria (Goldie Hawn) is a librarian living in San Francisco. On the way home one afternoon, Gloria picks up a man named Scotty, when she encounters him broken down on the highway. She impulsively accepts Scotty's invitation to join him at the movies that evening, and before they part ways he asks her to take his pack of cigarettes in order to help him curb his smoking. Unbeknownst to her, Scotty has secreted a roll of film in the pack. Before she knows it, Gloria is drawn into a complicated mystery that involves albino's dwarfs, an assassination and a charming policeman (Chevy Chase)Chevy Chase was brilliant here, good looking and charming when needed and a bumbling clutz when needed too. As for Hawn, she looked great (especially when wearing her glasses) and she seemed to have permanently erect nipples. (Not that I'm complaining lol) she handles all her action scenes, romantic scenes and comedy scenes wonderfully. Burgess Meredith is great here, I always like seeing him on screen, Brian Dennehey does well in his small role and Dudley Moore (who I have never been a fan of) is a lot of fun here. The movie's theme song "Ready to Take a Chance Again" sung by Barry Manilow garnered a Best Song Academy Award nomination.

Alfred Hitchcock's last film, "Family Plot", came out two years earlier than "Foul Play". It is also filmed in San Francisco, also features a winsome heroine and a clutsy hero, and also involves a diabolical plot against a man of the church. But instead of mediocre acting, lame pacing, and an endless car chase, it has Hitchcock's polish and gentle wit. "Foul Play" looks to me like a plagiaristic attempt to combine Hitchcock's work with -- what? -- "Bullitt"?The only thing that saves "Foul Play" for me is the Gilbert-and-Sullivan, although I have to admit that the treatment of what Hitchcock would call the "McGuffin" was somewhat inventive.