Word: falke
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Arkin never holds up his end of the comedy, and at several points he lets it fall with a thud on the audience's feet. The screenplay calls for him to respond continuously to Falk's antics with a series of outraged quips and grimaces, but instead of playing a genuinely angry man or countering Falk's lunacy with his own, Arkin is stone-faced. At one point he literally falls into a stupor...
Despite the deadness of Arkin's performance, The In-Laws remains a funny movie throughout. This is not intellectual humor-it smacks more of Mel Brooks than Woody Allen, but has little of the former's vulgarity or the latter's self-indulgence. The best jokes center on Falk's character, and the audience remains uncertain about his qualifications-whether he's really a CIA agent or just a loon who thinks he's one-until the movie...
...some ways The In-Laws is an acid satire of the incompetence of America's intelligence "community." Falk has a picture of John F. Kennedy on his wall with the inscription, "At least we tried-thanks for everything-JFK." "You mean you were involved in the Bay of Pigs?" Arkin asks, deadpan. "I was the one who came up with the idea," Falk proudly replies. This is a CIA agent who confirms the worst charges that Congress and the press have brought against the agency-a liar and bumbler, he seems to act without orders and puts civilians in danger...
Until the denouement, viewers who want to believe that lunatics are not standard intelligence figures can clutch Falk's own statement that the agency had kicked him out and the confirmation of a CIA higher-up whom Arkin calls. "The man's a total lunatic-I'd advise you to keep as far away from him as possible," Arkin is told...
...Millay and whose art collection is filled with garish nudes. He does keep the audience laughing, but it's all very strained-as if everyone involved in the movie had tired of it and decided to take the easy way out. The ending hits the same flat note, as Falk and Arkin are-surprise-saved, and Falk's integrity is restored...