Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageWhere's Poppa? (1970)
Director: Carl Reiner
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Scripted by Robert Klane from his own novel, this is the ultimate in Jewish Momma jokes, with a despairing Segal dressing up in a King Kong suit in hopes of scaring his obstructively senile parent to death, while she, indestructibly played by Ruth Gordon at her battiest, serenely continues turning his sex life into an everlasting coitus interruptus while herself bearing a charmed life. Meanwhile the plot is assaulted by a riot of topsy-turvy New York neuroses: a brother-in-law who insists on walking home through Central Park because he has a cosy arrangement with the muggers waiting there to attack him every night; a General who gets so carried away while being cross-examined about military codes of conduct that he launches into a Molly Bloom monologue about the orgiastic delights of killing goons; a cop who refuses to press charges after being raped while disguised as a policewoman, instead sending a bouquet of roses to his assailant. An irresistible black comedy, it's probably Reiner's best film, not least because it shows such affection for all its crazies.Author: TM
User reviews of this film
-
- howard said...
- Posted on Mar 04 2010 21:29 A wonderful film
- Report as inappropriate
Cast & crew
Director: Carl Reiner
Producer: Jerry Tokofsky, Marvin Worth
Cast: George Segal, Ruth Gordon, Trish Van Devere, Ron Leibman, Rae Allen, Vincent Gardenia, Barnard Hughes, Rob Reiner full cast
Genre(s): Comedy
Duration: 82 mins
Most popular on this site
Going the Distance
In association with the new film Going the Distance, Time Out brings you the ultimate guide to Romantic London
Top Stories
Venice 2010: Michelle Williams, cowgirl?
David Jenkins reviews 'Wendy and Lucy' director Kelly Reichardt's poignant pioneer Western 'Meek's Cutoff'
Venice 2010: Vincent Gallo joins the Taliban
Gallo plays a warrior on the run from US troops in the latest by Polish veteran Jerzy Skolimowski
Venice 2010: Sofia Coppola's 'Somewhere'
David Jenkins reviews the latest celeb-baiting missive from the director of 'Lost in Translation'
Michael Shannon: the busiest man in movies?
The hardworking actor talks to David Jenkins about Herzog's 'My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?' and chick-rock biopic 'The Runaways'
Venice 2010: Julian Schnabel's 'Miral'
David Jenkins reviews a disappointing political drama from the director of 'Diving Bell and the Butterfly'
Venice 2010: Darren Aronofsky's 'Black Swan'
David Jenkins reports from Venice on Aronofsky's intense ballet melodrama starring Natalie Portman
Gemma Arterton talks 'Tamara Drewe'
Cath Clark talks to the former Bond girl about squeezing into outfits, her new Sloaney look and ‘Midsomer Murders’
Bobcat Goldthwait: A Life in Film
Ahead of the release of 'World's Greatest Dad', Adam Lee Davies looks back on the former wildman’s journey from stand-up to Sundance
Michael Cera: Hollywood's go-to-geek
The geek God talks to Dave Calhoun about socking it to the bad guys in 'Scott Pilgrim vs The World'
Why 'Certified Copy' is pure Kiarostami
‘Certified Copy’ won Juliette Binoche Best Actress at Cannes, but it also provoked accusations that its award-winning director, Abbas Kiarostami, had gone mainstream. Nonsense, says Geoff Andrew
From Shaun to Scott: Edgar Wright interview
The ‘Shaun of the Dead’ and ‘Hot Fuzz’ director tells Tom Huddleston about learning to fight, being hormonal and life as The Blink Nazi
50 Essential Comic-book Movies, with Edgar Wright
Time Out, with the help of the director of 'Scott Pilgrim vs The World' round-up 50 essential comic book movies
Cinema's 50 greatest flops, follies and failures
Time Out presents our list of cinema's most spectacular follies, most saddening flops and most unbearable failures
What do you think?
Post your review now