What's Up, Doc?
Warner Bros. | Release Date: March 10, 1972 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
73
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
VarietyStaff (Not Credited)
The script and cast are excellent; the direction and comedy staging are outstanding; and there are literally reels of pure, unadulterated and sustained laughs. Read full review
90
Little White LiesMeg Walters
The particular brand of slapstick comedy and barbed romance in What’s Up, Doc? is an homage to a bygone era of Hollywood cinema that in 1972 was considered outdated. But Bogdanovich embraced it without irony. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Only a director in complete control can fashion something so effortlessly chaotic. What’s Up Doc? is one of the signature comedies of the 1970s whose throwback mixture of madcap hijinks and rat-a-tat-tat dialogue still works for a generation twice removed from its influences. Read full review
80
The New YorkerRichard Brody
In Bogdanovich’s analytical twist on the genre, even joyous liberation leaves a huge mess. Read full review
80
EmpireIan Nathan
Trying too hard and generally too trying. Seek out Howard Hawke's Bringing up Baby instead and be done with it. Read full review
80
The New York TimesVincent Canby
It has a soul of its own, which reflects the changes, for good and evil, in American life in the last 40 years. Read full review
80
The TelegraphStaff (Not Credited)
Barbra Streisand and Ryan O'Neal spar beautifully in Peter Bogdanovich's homage to screwball comedies of the Thirties. [11 Feb 2017, p.32]
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The movie works. It is food at last for we who hunger for a screwball comedy utterly lacking in redeeming social importance. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
The hyperactive humor grates at times, but is rarely as labored as many '60s comedies, thanks mainly to Bogdanovich's indulgence of the spontaneously absurd, and his inventive way of letting gags work their way across long, wide sets. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleDan Gentile
The jokes in What’s Up, Doc? will scratch a nostalgic itch, but what’s most refreshing about the film is that it shows a lighthearted side of San Francisco, without any superhero spectacle, looming natural disaster or hard-boiled noir themes. It’s a sunny and silly side of the city that rarely gets captured on film anymore, a view of San Francisco that’s worth revisiting. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
While WHAT'S UP, DOC? may not be as great as the classic screwball comedies of the 1930s and 40s, director Bogdanovich has delivered a film with energy, wit, and a madcap pace that is well worth watching. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesBarbara Saltzman
The film is a cultivated taste -- hilarious to some, silly to others. The 94-minute romp holds up well with Madeline Kahn in her first film role and Streisand showing off her likable comic abilities. [19 Feb 1993, p.F24]
60
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Streisand sings a fabulous version of “You’re the Top” behind the credits, and the busy script by Buck Henry, Robert Benton, and David Newman keeps things moving, but the spirit of pastiche keeps this romp from truly rivaling its sources. Read full review
60
The New YorkerPauline Kael
Bogdanovich takes the plot and the externals of the characters but loses the logic. His picture goes every which way; he restages gags from Buster Keaton and Laurel & Hardy and W.C. Fields, plus a lot of cornball devices.
40
TimeJay Cocks
The result is a comedy made by a man who has seen a lot of movies, knows all the mechanics, and has absolutely no sense of humor. Read full review
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