What’s Up, Doc?

What’s Up, Doc?, 1972, 4 ¼ stars

Farcical farewell

Exclusive to MeierMovies, March 23, 2022

Keeping alive its tradition of honoring the recently departed, the Florida Film Festival is recognizing director Peter Bogdanovich with a Closing Night Retro presentation of What’s Up, Doc? Full of unpretentious fun and mostly lacking in political statements, the 1972 film will screen on Sunday, April 17, at 8:45 p.m. Even better, it will be shown in 35mm.

Bogdanovich, who died on January 6 at age 81, is perhaps best known for The Last Picture Show, Targets, Paper Moon, Daisy Miller and Nickelodeon. But he’s also remembered for his love of Buster Keaton, which informed his regrettably subpar documentary The Great Buster, his last film, from 2018. However, his love for silent and screwball comedies also inspired the wonderful slapstick of What’s Up, Doc?

Co-written by Buck Henry, the film stars Barbra Streisand and Bogdanovich regulars Ryan O’Neal and Madeline Kahn. It should sell out, so get your tickets now for this side-splitting and plaid bag-busting treat that also features the always oddball Kenneth Mars and a 21-year-old Randy Quaid. The grateful dead thank you in advance.

© 2022 MeierMovies, LLC

This review is part of my coverage of the 2022 Florida Film Festival. For more information about the event and an index of reviews of other festival films, go here. For more information on this movie, visit IMDB and Wikipedia.  

Note: Unfortunately, the Enzian’s film projector broke just hours before the scheduled presentation. But the theater staff scrambled brilliantly and found a high-resolution digital file, so the screening went ahead as planned, albeit without true celluloid.