The In-Laws (1979)

(On Cable TV, April 2022) As far as buddy comedies go, The In-Laws makes a lot out of the elements at its disposal. The key to this is casting, of course: Alan Alda is not bad as a dentist who gets swept into the machinations of his new daughter-in-law’s father, but the spotlight here goes to Peter Falk as the other man, a CIA agent who may or may not be running rogue after being kicked out of the agency for recklessness. There’s a nice straight-man / wild-card dynamic at play, but more remarkably, a steady escalation of comedy as their adventures get wilder and further away from our dentist-protagonist’s comfort zone. Director Arthur Hiller makes the most out of Andrew Bergman’s script, but the actors are up to the task set out before them. The comedy still works pretty well, with Falk driving most of it but Alda getting the laughs by reacting (badly) to it all. Don’t worry – The In-Laws ends well. There was a remake in the 2000s that didn’t work so well, so don’t let that affect your intention of seeing the original.