Where’s Poppa?

Directed by Carl Reiner, Where’s Poppa? follows George Segal’s Gordon Hocheiser as he conspires to get rid of his overbearing mother (Ruth Gordon’s Mrs. Hocheiser) after he meets the woman of his dreams (Trish Van Devere’s Louise Callan). It’s a promising setup that’s employed to progressively erratic (and downright tedious) effect by Reiner, which is disappointing, to say the least, given that Where’s Poppa? admittedly boasts an entertaining first half that benefits from the funny, go-for-broke efforts of its talented cast – with Segal and Gordon’s amusing work here heightening the comedic impact of several early sequences. There’s little doubt, then, that the picture slowly-but-surely begins to alienate the viewer as it progresses into a midsection rife with questionable, tiresome subplots, with, especially, the inclusion of a bizarre subplot involving rape, which is played for laughs!, doing little to alleviate the increasingly ineffective atmosphere. The admittedly satisfying conclusion comes far too late to make a difference in the movie’s overall impact, ultimately, with the final result a hopelessly dated endeavor that squanders the predominantly agreeable performances from an impressively stacked roster of players.

** out of ****