Jerryssimo!

Underrated Lewis comedy is quite good in parts. The film begins as if it were a TV sitcom with Jerry "happily" married to Anne Francis (of TV's Honey West) with two children and living in none other than the set from TV's Bewitched. We see him trying to outwit a gopher in the garden (who in turn outwits Jerry), trying to unplug the kitchen sink, cope with too many family members in the bathroom, and deal with an unattentive baby-sitter. This is middle-aged Jerry, still zany but a responsible parent earning a good wage. Think Tim Allen on Home Improvement. His wife is both beautiful and smart bringing the art of the housewife's budget duties to almost Wall Street levels. A visit to his doctor reveals he is dying from heart problems. Jerry tells his wife and she suggests that he pretend to abandon the family and use his credit cards to travel around the world. She assures him that his $150,000 life insurance payoff to her would be protected because she can't be held for her husband's debt if he abandon's his family. In addition, she has put in ad in the paper stating she would no longer be liable for his debts and the doctor would testify that a dying man would be too distressed to make rational decisions. Though the audience is signaled that the wife and doctor are scamming poor Jerry, there is no ground work to suggest there was anything wrong with the marriage to warrant such evil action from his wife. I was a little lost for words until I got used to the situation change. I suppose modern audiences weaned on Pulp Fiction and Fargo would find this an asset. After I accepted the new premise I enjoyed the rest of the film, especially a fairly clever last twenty minutes. Jerry Lewis' performance is quite good balancing between drama and comedy. The plot twists are just right to keep the audience interested. Non-Lewis fans might be surprised.