It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time was a 1975 movie directed by John Trent and produced by David Perlmutter. Starring Anthony Newley and Stefanie Powers with appearances by Isaac Hayes and a young John Candy.
The movie centers around a playright named Sweeney (played by Newley) who spends most of his time getting money and beer out of his friend Moriarty (Hayes). Sweeney and his ex-wife Georgina (Powers) are still in love with each other and as noted below are intimate on a regular basis. Sweeney spends the film trying to figure out how to get back together with Georgina even though she already married to a developer. Sweeney fakes Georgina's kidnapping, which results in police attention in the form of Detectives Kopek (Candy) and Broom.
Provides examples of:
- Amicable Exes: Even though they are divorced Sweeney and Georgina are still quite friendly with each other and even sleep together on a regular basis, despite the fact that Georgina had since remarried.
- Covers Always Lie: In later years the film would be marketed as being a John Candy film despite the fact that Candy's role in the film was minimal and he only had a few speaking lines.
- Dirty Old Monk: One of the guests at a party is a local Bishop, who wastes no time in getting really friendly with some of the female party goers.
- Faked Kidnapping: Sweeney stages one of these as a means of getting back together with his ex-wife Georgina.
- Laxative Prank: During the aforementioned party Sweeney pours some laxative on the salad, which a number of party goers consume. These party goers all feel the effects at about the same time, and have to all compete for the small number of bathrooms available.
- Police Are Useless: Kopek and his partner are very much this.
