Foul Play

Name: Foul Play
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Comedy
Released: July 14, 1978
Duration: 116 min
Rating: 45
Cast: Brian Dennehy, Burgess Meredith, Chevy Chase, Chuck McCann, Dudley Moore

1978

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 7 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 8 Ratings

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7.4

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7.4	Your Score
7.4	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 8 Ratings

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Foul Play

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Movie Details & Credits

Paramount Pictures | Release Date: July 14, 1978 | PG

Starring: Brian Dennehy, Burgess Meredith, Chevy Chase, Chuck McCann, Dudley Moore, Eugene Roche, Goldie Hawn, Marc Lawrence, Marilyn Sokol, Rachel Roberts

Summary: A shy San Francisco librarian (Goldie Hawn) and a bumbling cop (Chevy Chase) fall in love as they solve a crime involving albinos, dwarves, and the Catholic Church.

Director: Colin Higgins

Genre(s): Mystery, Thriller, Comedy

Rating: PG

Runtime: 116 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

Staff (Not Credited)

Foul Play revives a relatively dormant film genre - the crime-suspense-romantic comedy in which low-key leading players get involved with themselves while also caught up in monumental intrigue. The name missing from the credits is Alfred Hitchcock. Writer Colin Higgins makes a good directorial bow. Read full review

TV Guide Magazine Staff (Not Credited)

A funny, successful, and very derivative crime-comedy. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

Unsatisfactory as a whole, the film is hilarious and tense in bits. Read full review

Janet Maslin

Foul Play is a slick, attractive, enjoyable movie with all the earmarks of a hit. But as “House Calls” did a.few months ago, it starts out promising • genuine wit and originality only to fall back on more familiar tactics after a half‐hour or so. If either film had a less winning opening, perhaps it wouldn't leave a vague aftertaste of disappointment. Read full review

David Ansen

To anyone who has seen half the movies he appropriates, and can therefore guess every twist of the plot miles before it happens, Foul Play's frenetic eagerness to please is about as refreshing as the whiff of an exhaust pipe on a hot city afternoon. [24 July 1978, p.59]

Gary Arnold

Higgins can't keep his mind from wandering. Foul Play never begins to make sense as a mystery - Dudley Moore and the 3-foot-9 Billy Barty, become the butts of grotesquely conceived and staged sight gags. Read full review

Dave Kehr

Director Colin Higgins plays foul with the audience, constructing some of the most dishonest suspense sequences ever filmed, and ends with a thriller that is obnoxious and manipulative in the extreme. If it were exciting, I suppose it wouldn't matter, but it's not: Higgins can't be bothered to bring the slightest bit of conviction to his plot, which takes nearly two hours to run its unimaginative course. Read full review

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User Reviews

DawdlingPoet

Nov 25, 2021

This is a pretty cheesy film - cheesy but amusing. There are some pretty big names present in the cast, from Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase to Dudley Moore. It dates from 1978 and it has some pretty sexist moments. I felt frustrated for the female character - goodness knows Goldie Hawn has hadThis is a pretty cheesy film - cheesy but amusing. There are some pretty big names present in the cast, from Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase to Dudley Moore. It dates from 1978 and it has some pretty sexist moments. I felt frustrated for the female character - goodness knows Goldie Hawn has had to play scared young(ish) women for a long time, who often male characters take what's said with a pinch of salt.

It's an easy watch and is fairly entertaining and I sort of liked the quirkiness aspect of it but it's not the kind of film I'm likely to remember in much detail or want to see again really. The old 'damsel in distress' plotline feels so outdated and uncomfortable to me but that's just my opinion. There are some surprisingly amusing pieces of dialogue present, that aside. It's worth a watch if your particularly interested in it I suppose but otherwise I wouldn't say its worth paying much to see as such. An alright film, mildly amusing and cringe-y at the same time.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Madworld1427

Oct 6, 2019

Simply one of the best comedies of the 70s, Goldie Jawn is adorable and has great chemistry with Chevy Chase

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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