At the start, Martha is in a Mexican jail wearing a wedding dress. So right away you know this is not going to be an ordinary movie.
A few months earlier, as she explains to the authorities, Martha was at her sister Annie's wedding. Her parents think Martha will be next to get married, as do about 30 other people. But Martha isn't seeing anyone.
Martha works for the KSDG-TV program 'Daybreak San Diego', co-hosted by Dick and Nancy. Walter, one of her co-workers, Walter, is a possible romantic partner. But Martha meets Whitman when he selects the same song she wants on a jukebox. They fall for each other, and he meets her normal parents, and she meets his quirky mother and her maid Consuela. Whitman's family appears to have money, and he doesn't have to work but can afford all sorts of expensive gifts, even though all he does is write poetry.
After a while, it becomes clear Whitman has a fun side that Martha is too uptight to appreciate. And things go downhill from there. Not only that, but Whitman's former girlfriend Inga is mentally unbalanced and very jealous. And she has a very large but friendly sidekick named Bob. Things get so bad Martha has to hire private detective Jack Tramonte.
During the first half, I thought this was just going to be a standard romantic comedy. But the second half turned out to be anything but normal. Let's just say Martha appears to be the only sane person left, but not for long. Everyone else thinks she's crazy. And what happens would be quite unlikely in real life.
I'm not crazy about Ellen DeGeneres, but let's face it. She has this irresistible perky quality about her that works very well here. Not Olsen twins perky, but pleasant. I can't stand Joan Cusack, but I think people might enjoy her demented portrayal of Inga.
Most of the music was good. A lot of it came from the 40s and 50s or at least sounded like it (I know Queen recorded 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' around 1980). And Martha went to the opera. There was also Mexican-flavored music in some scenes. And a boys' choir sang 'I Want To Know What Love Is' by Foreigner, which sounds much better here than in the original version. Unfortunately, Whitman liked Foreigner, Toto, Boston and REO Speedwagon.
This was a really good movie, once it really got going.
