X
- 1978
- PG
- Paramount Pictures
- 1 h 56 m
- 1978
- PG
- Paramount Pictures
- 1 h 56 m
Summary A shy San Francisco librarian (Goldie Hawn) and a bumbling cop (Chevy Chase) fall in love as they solve a crime involving albinos, dwarves, and the Catholic Church.
Directed By: Colin Higgins
Written By: Colin Higgins
- 1978
- PG
- Paramount Pictures
- 1 h 56 m
- 1978
- PG
- Paramount Pictures
- 1 h 56 m
Foul Play
45
7.4
Where to Watch
Summary A shy San Francisco librarian (Goldie Hawn) and a bumbling cop (Chevy Chase) fall in love as they solve a crime involving albinos, dwarves, and the Catholic Church.
Directed By: Colin Higgins
Written By: Colin Higgins
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 7 Critic Reviews
45
57% Positive
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
14% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
29% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 7 Critic Reviews
45
57% Positive
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
14% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
29% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Foul Play revives a relatively dormant film genre - the crime-suspense-romantic comedy in which low-key leading players get involved with themselves while also caught up in monumental intrigue. The name missing from the credits is Alfred Hitchcock. Writer Colin Higgins makes a good directorial bow.
A funny, successful, and very derivative crime-comedy.
Foul Play is a slick, attractive, enjoyable movie with all the earmarks of a hit. But as “House Calls” did a.few months ago, it starts out promising • genuine wit and originality only to fall back on more familiar tactics after a half‐hour or so. If either film had a less winning opening, perhaps it wouldn't leave a vague aftertaste of disappointment.
To anyone who has seen half the movies he appropriates, and can therefore guess every twist of the plot miles before it happens, Foul Play's frenetic eagerness to please is about as refreshing as the whiff of an exhaust pipe on a hot city afternoon. [24 July 1978, p.59]
Higgins can't keep his mind from wandering. Foul Play never begins to make sense as a mystery - Dudley Moore and the 3-foot-9 Billy Barty, become the butts of grotesquely conceived and staged sight gags.
Director Colin Higgins plays foul with the audience, constructing some of the most dishonest suspense sequences ever filmed, and ends with a thriller that is obnoxious and manipulative in the extreme. If it were exciting, I suppose it wouldn't matter, but it's not: Higgins can't be bothered to bring the slightest bit of conviction to his plot, which takes nearly two hours to run its unimaginative course.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 9 User Ratings
7.4
78% Positive
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
22% Mixed
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 9 User Ratings
7.4
78% Positive
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
22% Mixed
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.
Awards
Golden Globes, USA
• 7 Nominations
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Nomination
Edgar Allan Poe Awards
• 1 Nomination
