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The Couch Trip (1987)

Director: Michael Ritchie

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From Time Out Film Guide

When LA celebrity sex therapist George Maitlin (Grodin) succumbs to a nervous breakdown, a London sabbatical is advised. The call to suitably uncharismatic locum Dr Baird is intercepted by lunatic John Burns Jr (Aykroyd). Assuming Baird's identity, Burns duly shows up in Therapy City, where his dotty advice worries the sponsors of Maitlin's popular radio phone-in show but wows the clients. A fellow con-artist (Matthau) rumbles the scam, and wants a piece of the proceeds. Ritchie's irreverent farce won't tip the balance of Hollywood's love/hate relationship with psychiatry, but it does have fun with the mythology. Aykroyd revels in a role tailor-made for his shoot-from-the-lip talent, his exuberant performance illuminating the film's sometimes flabby sentimentality and slack structure. Intermittently hilarious, if rickety, fun.

Author: SCu 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide

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Cast & crew

Director: Michael Ritchie

Producer: Lawrence Gordon

Cast: Dan Aykroyd, Walter Matthau, Charles Grodin, Donna Dixon, Richard Romanus, Mary Gross, David Clennon full cast

Genre(s): Comedy

Duration: 98 mins


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