Movie · 1972 · Comedy, Crime, Romance · 1h 34m · G · English
Curator score: 7.5/10 (30.4K ratings)
A screwball comedy. Remember them?
Overview
The accidental mix-up of four identical plaid overnight bags leads to a series of increasingly wild and wacky situations.
Ratings
Curator score: 7.5/10
IMDb: 7.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 88%
Metacritic: 73
TMDB: 7.4/10
Director
Peter Bogdanovich
Production
Saticoy Productions, Warner Bros. Pictures
Cast
Barbra Streisand, Ryan O'Neal, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars, Austin Pendleton, Michael Murphy, Philip Roth, Sorrell Booke, Stefan Gierasch, Mabel Albertson, Liam Dunn, John Hillerman, George Morfogen, Graham Jarvis, Randy Quaid, M. Emmet Walsh, Kevin O'Neal, Eleanor Zee, Paul Condylis, Fred Scheiwiller
Curator Review
Verdict
A fast, fizzy screwball revival that turns a simple bag mix-up into escalating chaos, with sharp physical comedy, romantic sparring, and a standout star turn from Barbra Streisand. It’s one of the great modern updates of classic Hollywood comedy: playful, precise, and genuinely exhilarating when the set pieces start detonating.
Best for
fans of screwball comedy and rapid-fire dialogue
viewers who like romantic comedies with real comic bite
people who enjoy elaborate farce and escalating misunderstandings
fans of 1970s New Hollywood with a classic-Hollywood throwback feel
viewers who appreciate star-driven comedy performances
Skip if
you want low-key, naturalistic humor
you dislike broad farce and cartoonish escalation
you prefer crime stories that stay serious
you’re not in the mood for a very busy, high-energy comedy
Overview
What’s Up, Doc? is a dazzling reminder that old-school screwball never really died; it just needed a 1970s makeover. Peter Bogdanovich takes the machinery of classic comedy—mistaken identities, romantic combat, social embarrassment, and runaway momentum—and gives it a modern snap without sanding off the absurdity.
Worth noting
Barbra Streisand is the engine here, playing Judy Maxwell with such speed, confidence, and comic intelligence that everyone around her seems to be trying to keep up. Ryan O’Neal makes a perfect straight man, and Madeline Kahn steals every scene she touches. The movie’s pleasures are both verbal and physical, but the real thrill is how effortlessly it keeps escalating.
Bottom line
By the time the film reaches its big set pieces, it feels less like a comedy than a perfectly controlled collapse. It’s bright, manic, and deeply affectionate toward the art of making audiences laugh, which is why it still plays like a small miracle.
Top Letterboxd reviews
annaliese (5★) · 4093 likes
"i can fix him" says woman who is worse
👽 Zara 👽 (5★) · 2086 likes
the ultimate autistic/adhd couple
demi adejuyigbe (5★) · 2025 likes
Fuck, that's a perfect movie. This might truly be one of my new favorite films. Every part of it is so damn good– especially Babs and Madeleine Kahn. The car chase is one of my new favorite set pieces. Can't believe they got Ryan Reynolds to play Howard Bannister a whole 4 years before he was born, but he knocks it out of the park.
demi adejuyigbe (5★) · 1912 likes
absolutely perfect. aspirational. watching this at a theater tonight is the closest i’ll ever get to how it must’ve felt seeing star wars in ‘77. in the glow of this movie, i feel 12 years old. i’m leaning forward at the edge of my seat, grinning from ear to ear, deeply in love with the movies, in absolute disbelief, dreaming of a time when i’m older and chasing the high of making something so incredible. i’m slack-jawed, whispering “who is… more absolutely perfect. aspirational. watching this at a theater tonight is the closest i’ll ever get to how it must’ve felt seeing star wars in ‘77. in the glow of this movie, i feel 12 years old. i’m leaning forward at the edge of my seat, grinning from ear to ear, deeply in love with the movies, in absolute disbelief, dreaming of a time when i’m older and chasing the high of making something so incredible. i’m slack-jawed, whispering “who is… more
davidehrlich (4★) · 1579 likes
has any movie more explicitly and damningly NUKED *another* movie more than this one does in its final seconds? just delightful.