The Owl And The Pussycat is a fine example of great comic pairing. Barbra and George Segal work very well together. Very well indeed. It is a loud comedy though, not a slapstick one. So if you're looking for slapstick, watch What's Up,Doc? or For Pete's Sake. If you are looking for a comedy that is a more heartfelt, with more depth to the charatcers and emotion, then The Owl And The Pussycat is for you. I say it is a loud comedy mostly because of Barbra's character Doris. Doris can be pretty loud. But what's funny about it is that half the time she doesn't even mean to be; it's just her nature. This "nature", took George Segal's character Felix quite by surprise,
and it is very amusing to see him try to adjust to it. What's so interesting to watch is that although Doris shows herself in the beginning to be loud, self-assertive and bold, she later shows herself to be vulnerable and sweet. Where as George Segal's character Felix, showing himself to have a nose up in the air, "I'm too intellectual for you" attitude in the beginning, later shows that although he wants success in his life, not at the expense of pretense. With himself, or what he genuinely wants. I say pretense because Felix's thinking was that he would marry an "intellectual" such as he thought himself to be, and live this "proper" life. Doris, although loud, and believes she is a legend in her own mind, is genuine and real. Felix is very much attracted to her for this reason. It's a quality that she has that he sees that he wants to be more like himself. But what is so amusing is that Doris feels that after meeting and getting to know Felix, that she needs to become more like him! More "intellectual". What's truly so charming about this movie is how it shows the facades that we can portray and the masks that we can wear are truly just that; facades and masks. How no matter how confident we can "look" on the outside, how smart we may "appear", that it can be a totally different story once you start actually getting to know someone. What's most charming of all,(actually wonderful),is that by the film's end they both decide to drop these facades, take off the masks, and "start fresh". But...all along from the beginning of this movie til it's end, until they get to this level, it can be quite hysterical. A great comedy with heart. Enjoy it.
