Customer Reviews

Barefoot in the Park

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I'm no great fan of Neil Simon, but this neat adaption of his popular stage success BAREFOOT IN THE PARK brings a smile to my face--and it probably will yours too. The story is quite simple: newlyweds Robert Redford and Jane Fonda have moved into a New York apartment building peopled by eccentrics... and their own tiny apartment has hole in the skylight, no heat, and you have walk up five flights to get there. Redford, a rather stodgy conservative, takes a dim view of the whole thing; Fonda, who has an excessively happy-go-lucky disposition, thinks everything is great fun. Needless to say, they're soon going at it hammer and tongs.

This is a very contrived, sitcom-ish film, but the cast carries it well. Although Redford has remained a great star for forty years, his films have been very hit or miss; here he is well cast, and he plays expertly. During this period of her career, Fonda was very much the perky girl-next-door with a slight sex-kitten spin, and she too is fun to watch. But the real winners here are Charles Boyer, as their eccentric neighbor, and particularly Mildred Natwick, as Fonda's mother. Natwick excelled at playing disconcerted matrons, and this is perhaps the best of the many fine, memorable variations of the type she offered during her long and very enjoyable career. BAREFOOT IN THE PARK won't go down in history as a great film, nor will change your point of view. But it is tremendously good fun, a film I've enjoyed every time time I've seen it--and that is a good many. Recommended; you'll enjoy it.

Robert Redford and Jane Fonda are newlyweds in this quirky comedy. They play well off each other with him playing straight serious to her funny spontaneity. This is a treasure that you will want to view over and over again.

Barefoot In the Park - Paramount, 1967

Jane Fonda is adorable in this Broadway hit play by Neil Simon converted to the big screen. Fonda and Robert Redford are Corie and Paul Bratter, newlyweds adjusting to their newfound married life. Corie is carefree and vibrant, whereas her husband, Paul, is prim and proper. Together, they make a dazzling team that answers the question: Do opposites attract? The script rarely leaves their hilariously small apartment, located on the fifth floor of a building with no elevator. This adds for some laughable moments in the movie as visitors have to walk up five flights of stairs to reach them. Mildred Natwick plays Corrie's concerned mother, and she livens up the script with her dry wit and humorous lines. This is a wonderful romantic comedy that will lift your spirits. I just wish the movie was a bit longer. . . I would have loved to see what became of this lovable couple

This movie is, in a word, FUNNY! The casting and the dialogue are simply phenomenal. If you don't laugh at this movie, you are a humorless person. Mildred Natwick was deservedly nominated for a best supporting actress Oscar that year (losing to Estelle Parsons for "Bonnie & Clyde") for recreating her stage role (along with Redford) as Jane Fonda's mother and is brilliant! One of Neil Simon's absolute classics. Best Moment: Every staircase scene!

Neil Simon is a master storyteller and has such an amazing way of creating complexity out of simple characters. I found this film to be one of his better stories.

This movie is timeless and for anyone nostalgic for the 60's it is a walk down memory lane. The story is found in the relationship between two young people who marry and move into a Greenwich apartment. Both the apartment and the relationship need a bit of work and throughout the movie the characters strive for a better living arrangement.

Robert Redford is a bit stiff in his role as the serious lawyer husband to Jane Fonda's perky and ever curious wife. Together they are a mismatch that somehow works or at least you hope it will. The scenes are deeply written with lots of twists and turns and comedic outlets to maintain the viewer's interest. The funniest parts of the story arrive during the scenes with Fonda's mother, Mildred Natwick, and their Hungarian neighbor, Charles Boyer. Opposites attract from all angles and Simon's writing brings all of the mismatches together with an interesting flair.

If you love New York, Redford, Simon or Fonda or just a great old love story with a few laughs this film is for you. So kick off your shoes and enjoy this walk in the park!

Neil Simon's BAREFOOT IN THE PARK remains to this day a breathless comedy delight, the universal story of two newlyweds and their rocky road to marital bliss. Following a 6-day (and night) honeymoon at the Plaza Hotel, conservative young lawyer Paul Bratter (Robert Redford) and his vivacious wife Corie (Jane Fonda) settle into domesticity in a fifth-floor walkup apartment building in New York, filled to the rafters with veritable kooks! Corie's mother Mrs Banks (Mildred Natwick) finds herself being wooed by worldly neighbour Mr Velasco (Charles Boyer) , whilst Paul and Corie slowly adapt themselves (hilariously) to married life!

Robert Redford amiably recreates his Broadway role of Paul and Jane Fonda is just about perfect as Corie. Mildred Natwick is a hoot as Mrs Banks (and adds a lot of depth and drama to her comedy). Charles Boyer, in one of his last films, gives Velasco the flash and eccentricities the role requires. Neal Hefti composed what has become one of the most loved and admired film-scores of the 60s.

Sensational film version of the Broadway hit, which opened in 1963, originally starred Robert Redford and Elizabeth Ashley, and ran for over 1,500 performances.

The barefoot Redford-Fonda team is fantastic at delivering scene after scene of red-face laughter. A passionate newlywed couple embark on a lifelong dream of marital bliss. Like most new couples, they adjust to the most basic of accommodations but have more difficulty adapting to the notion that life is not all fun and games or not all career-building work. Was matrimony a serious mistake? Are they totally incompatible? Can conservative family and eccentric neighbors salvage this new couple's seemingly disastrous pledge? This is a film to be watched more than once since you will likely not hear some dialog due to boisterous laughter and totally miss other sections while rolling on the floor.

Movie quote: "I feel like we've died and gone to heaven - only we had to climb up."

An old friend (and fan of goofy romance) recommended this film to me. It took 6 months and I finally got around to seeing the DVD. The DVD has the original trailer and looks great. The sound is solid, but you aren't buying this DVD for the effects. You are buying this for the film.

Pauline Kael called this film, "a trifle and almost amusing in a harmlessly, pleasantly stupid way" (5001 Nights at the Movies). She missed the whole point of the film. You don't take a movie like this seriously. You let the charm of Jane Fonda, Robert Redford, and the bouyant Charles Boyer take you away. You just laugh and enjoy. The story of two young newlyweds is age old. You can see where Dharma and Greg get their inspiration, and the 90 minutes of this film are far better than any episode of that show. I immediately fell in love with Fonda's Corrie.

Charles Boyer steals the movie. At times it is a bit dated (like Corrie's mom's advice about making a happy marriage), but that is no matter. If you want to smile and fall in love, see this film.

It looks great on DVD. Do yourself a favor, ignore the junk playing at a theatre near you and enjoy this one at home as winter comes.

Robert Redford and Jane Fonda at their prime, both in looks and acting. A refreshingly entertaining story without blood, guts or coarse language.

Jane Fonda is a great actress, but I have to admit that she worked my last nerve when she was whining about her husband's prudishness and demanding a divorce.

Robert Redford was a delight as a young husband trying hard to please a dizzy wife. The other characters, such as Jane's mother, the telephone man, the old delivery man, the eccentric "55" year old neighbor, were also fabulous.

Great romantic movie - you will laugh out loud.