There is no way that this should be as great as it is.  Director Peter Bogdanovich was coming off The Last Picture Show — great, but no yuks.  I can’t name one other Ryan O’Neal movie that I can sit through (OK, Paper Moon).  And having Barbra Streisand as the star does not bode well.

But not only does it work, it is easily a top 10 of all time comedy despite the AFI’s absurdly ranking it at #61.  O’Neal is perfect as a befuddled Cary Grant knock-off completely out of his element, Streisand is not only funny but actually kind of hot and Madeline Kahn takes a thankless role and elevates it to perfection.  Much of the supporting cast is recognizable to anyone who has seen a lot of 1970s TV or movies.

At its most basic level, it is the story of 4 travel bags that get mixed up, and Barbra Streisand as a free spirit who takes a liking to stuffy Ryan O’Neal.  I am not capable of explaining how that simple story explodes on the screen.  Just about any random 4 minute clip would be great.

Sadly, the clip stops just before the attack of the garbage cans, but anywhere it stopped would have left out something great in the next minute.