The Woman In Red

For his third effort in the director's seat, Gene Wilder tackled a more based in reality subject matter by remaking the French film Pardon Mon Affaire. The end result was 1984's The Woman In Red.

Happily married ad man Teddy Pierce, Wilder, becomes obsessed with a beautiful woman in a red dress, Kelly Le Brock, that he see's one morning in the parking garage at work. He goes to great lengths to try and spend an evening with her with disastrous and hilarious results.

With this movie, Wilder proved that he could write and direct more than just spoofs. And he's incredibly funny, as always, in front of the camera too. He has a pretty great supporting cast, that includes Charles Grodin, Joseph Bologna, Judith Ivey, and Gilda Radner, to back him up. If I had one complaint about the movie it's that Wilder throws in too many side stories that kind of get in the way of the main storyline. Bologna's character is going thru a breakup. Grodin's character is homosexual and decides to come out. Ivey's having an affair with the friend of her teenage daughter. Just a lot of ingredients to work with. But with a cast like this I'm sure Wilder wanted to give them material to work with, other than just standing around and observing Wilder's antics. The one side story that's kind of fun is Radner's, who mistakenly believes that Wilder's character has a thing for her.

This was a big hit when it first came out. Sadly, nowadays it's probably best remembered for Stevie Wonder's theme song, I Just Called To Say I Love You. For the most part, this is a terrific little comedy and a nice showcase for Wilder both in front of, and behind, the camera.

It's available on dvd.