I Ought to Be in Pictures

Wonderful film with Neil Simon again showing that he is the master of writing.

Dinah Manoff is just marvelous as the precocious 19 year old who goes to California to see the dad she hasn't seen in 16 years.

The film is touching as it first shows that Matthau knows so little about his daughter (and son) but then as the film goes on, he shows all the attributes that a father shows.

As Matthau's girlfriend, Ann-Margret is very good. The picture itself provides no screaming of usual Matthau antics. He is genuine here in every sense of the word.

The film shows the strong bond that is formed and we're sorry when Libby takes the bus back to N.Y. At least, there is a commitment by the father to keep in touch.

We also have to wonder what kind of woman he was married to that drove him away years before.

This is a modest but affecting little film. Besides his gift for one-line zingers, Neil Simon has a way of giving his characters lines that are both surprising and believable. Dinah Manoff is perhaps a bit abrasively cooky at first, but she moderates the Brooklyn shtick after awhile and comes over as more complex and real. Walter Matthau as her bewildered but finally disarmed dad is consummately believable. Ann Margaret has little to do, but she does it with superb subtlety. Just watch how well she listens and understands

In my and my wife's opinion(s) this picture ("I Ought To Be In Pictures") held our attention, made us laugh, and touched our heart strings. The plot is very believable and truly beautiful. Dinah Manoff and Walter Matthau were delightful. Ann-Margret's part was undoubtedly low-key, but we applaud her for being prepared to play it and play it well. (Who ever said an actress has always to play "knock-out" parts.) This is a movie we will buy for our collection of fine movies. Leonard Maltin's review rating: ** is an insult. We give it *** at least. We were thrilled to see Dinah Manoff playing a larger role than her role in "Ordinary People."

It must have been a casting no-brainer to put Dinah Manoff in the film-adaptation of Neil Simon's Broadway hit "I Ought To Be In Pictures" since she played the part of headstrong Libby on the stage. Unfortunately, a bombastic concoction such as Libby cannot be easily transferred to the more intimate medium of film, and the writing leaves both Manoff and the viewer at a complete loss. Neil Simon writes gag-dialogue, gag-characters, gag-situations, so when he tries to get serious--the audience doesn't know how to respond. Is this guy kidding again? Libby moves from Brooklyn to Los Angeles to reconnect with her estranged screenwriter father, ostensibly to break into movies but mostly because she needs a loving dad to hold her. These later scenes are so uncomfortable, so static, that poor Walter Matthau can only sit on the end of the bed and gape (I've never seen him at such a loss). Ann-Margret has a warm, grounded presence as Matthau's girlfriend (it's not much of a role, and the dialogue is still in Simon's one-note, but A-M manages to give this woman some soul). Manoff, looking and acting like a cross between Tatum O'Neal and Kristy McNichol, projects to the rafters, as if she were still on Broadway. She's Gussy Gumshun; and when the barriers come down and she's vulnerable, we would like to give her our sympathies, but Simon won't let us. He has already moved on, to the next limp gag. ** from ****

I Ought to Be In Pictures was mostly boring. It's about a teenager who goes from New York to Hollywood for acting in the film business and also to be in touch with her dad that she hasn't seen since she was three years old because of a divorce. The relationships weren't anything memorable and there were a few laughs and it kind of ended how it began where not much was accomplished. I was hoping for better because the screenplay is by Neil Simon and the director is Herbert Ross who also directed Simon's The Sunshine Boys with Walter Matthau also in it. Ann-Margret plays Walter's girlfriend and while the performances did their best, the script isn't about much.