History Film / TheInLaws

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''The In-Laws'' is a 1979 American action comedy film directed by Creator/ArthurHiller, written by Andrew Bergman, and starring Creator/AlanArkin and Creator/PeterFalk.

While the film received mixed reviews from critics when it first came out (Creator/RogerEbert liked it, Creator/GeneSiskel didn't), it did well at the box office and has since been rightly regarded as one of the best comedies of the last few decades; ''Premiere'' magazine put it on its list of the 50 best comedies of all time. It was remade in 2003 with Creator/AlbertBrooks in the Arkin role and Creator/MichaelDouglas in the Falk role, but it wasn't well-received by critics or the box office.

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When Vince does make it to dinner one night, he immediately turns Sheldon off with his tales of [[BlatantLies seeing tsetse flies carrying children off in Guatemala]], and by the way he treats Tommy when Tommy makes a joke about the long-distance phone calls he makes. Sheldon wants to call off the wedding, but Barbara and Sheldon's wife Carol (Nancy Dussault) talk him out of it, and convince Sheldon to be nicer to Vince. So the next morning, when Vince comes to Sheldon's office asking for a favor, Sheldon says yes. Turns out Vince is really working for the UsefulNotes/{{CIA}}, and he's stolen some currency engraving plates, which he plans to sell to a corrupt [[UsefulNotes Latin American]] dictator named General Garcia (Richard Libertini) in order to nail him in a sting operation. Pretty soon, Sheldon is wishing he never decided to help Vince in the first place, and HilarityEnsues.

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''The In-Laws'' is a 1979 comedy film directed by Creator/ArthurHiller, written by Andrew Bergman, and starring Creator/AlanArkin and Creator/PeterFalk.

Sheldon Kornpett (Arkin) is a successful dentist whose daughter Barbara (Penny Peyser), a psychology student, is marrying Tommy Ricardo (Michael Lembeck), a law student, this upcoming weekend. Everyone approves of the wedding and is excited, but Sheldon's a bit nervous because he still hasn't met Tommy's father Vince (Falk), who apparently does "international consulting work".

While the film received mixed reviews from critics when it first came out, it did well at the box office and has since been rightly regarded as one of the best comedies of the last few decades; ''Premiere'' magazine put it on its list of the 50 best comedies of all time. It was remade in 2003 with Creator/AlbertBrooks in the Arkin role and Creator/MichaelDouglas in the Falk role, but it wasn't well-received by critics or the box office.

* Carol refers to Barbara as Creator/JuliaChild as one point.

* ActuallyPrettyFunny: In Sheldon's first scene, he's trying to remove a dead tooth from his patient Mr. Hirshorn, but Mr. Hirshaw keeps stopping him. Sheldon gets interrupted by a call from his wife, and when he comes back, Mr. Hirshorn reveals he removed the tooth by himself, which Sheldon can't help but laugh at.

* ActuallyPrettyFunny: In Sheldon's first scene, he's trying to remove a dead tooth from his patient Mr. Hirshaw, but Mr. Hirshaw keeps stopping him. Sheldon gets interrupted by a call from his wife, and when he comes back, Mr. Hirshaw reveals he removed the tooth by himself, which Sheldon can't help but laugh at.

* IceCreamKoan: When Sheldon is telling his patient Mr. Hirshaw about the wedding, he mentions he hasn't met Vince yet. Hirshaw immediately tells Sheldon to call off the wedding because he hasn't met Vince yet, and claims Tommy could be bad because "the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree". This strikes Sheldon as ridiculous...at first.

This film was not well-received by critics when it first came out, but it did well at the box office and has since been rightly regarded as one of the best comedies of the last few decades; ''Premiere'' magazine put it on its list of the 50 best comedies of all time. It was remade in 2003 with Creator/AlbertBrooks in the Arkin role and Creator/MichaelDouglas in the Falk role, but it wasn't well-received by critics or the box office.