Funny Farm

Directed by George Roy Hill, Funny Farm follows Chevy Chase’s Andy Farmer as he and his wife (Madolyn Smith’s Elizabeth) decide to quit the rat race and move into a small town rife with oddballs and lunatics. It’s an appealing premise that’s employed to erratic yet mostly watchable effect by Hill, as the filmmaker, armed with Jeffrey Boam’s screenplay, delivers an episodic comedy that benefits from the affable efforts of its two stars – with Chase and Smith’s charming, ingratiating work here going a long way towards smoothing over the narrative’s myriad of bumps and lulls. It’s clear, as well, that Funny Farm fares best in a first half devoted mainly to the protagonists’ amusing fish-out-of-water exploits, with the inclusion of several laugh-out-loud bits of silliness, including the couple’s ongoing phone-related complications and Andy’s attempt to adopt a dog, perpetuating the movie’s likeable atmosphere. The easy-going, entertaining vibe persists right up until it progresses into a fairly tiresome third act focused on Andy and Elizabeth’s strained relationship (as well as their attempts at selling their house), which, in addition to wreaking havoc on the picture’s momentum, ensures that Funny Farm fizzles out to a fairly palpable degree – with the end result a decent-enough endeavor that feels like it could (and should) be so much better.

**1/2 out of ****