I Love My Wife

Average-looking and living medical student--newly married, horny, and happy with his choices--finds his marriage and sex-life suddenly going south after his wife delivers their first child. Realistic marital blahs and hang-ups in the suburbs has funny, acerbic observations to make, and yet much of the picture feels half-baked, unfinished. Director Mel Stuart's rude, pointed sense of satire surfaces on occasion (such as a wonderful scene depicting a difference of opinion in front of the ice-cream man), yet often Stuart doesn't quite connect with writer Robert Kaufman's more outlandish ideas. The general concept is jumbled and, with Elliott Gould faintly distracted in the lead, the picture keeps slipping back into first gear. Wife Brenda Vaccaro loses all interest in intimacy, tells her husband to go get a prostitute if he wants sex, and then calls out, "Where are you going?" as he walks out the door. It's amusing and familiar and likable. However, Kaufman's sketch-like approach plays out like a depressed cartoon. Moments of the movie make you laugh, but there's always a bitter taste afterwards. ** from ****