Cheap For Pete's Sake (DVD) (Barbra Streisand, Michael Sarrazin) (Peter Yates) Price

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Customer Reviews of For Pete's Sake

For starters, the disk comes with a letterbox presentation on one side and a full-screen presentation on the other. The menu is colorful and a funky 1970's design. The trailers included (WAY WE WERE, PRINCE OF TIDES, and the PETE'S trailer) are interesting. The Talent Files are brief. The colors and clarity of the picture look great to me.

As for the film, Barbra is very funny. She's in her fast-talking Brooklynese mode here. The plot is barely realistic, but that doesn't really matter because this is a romantic, screwball comedy. Actually, when you think about it, the story of a wife who prostitutes herself to pay for a loan is quite horrendous. But director Peter Yates somehow makes you forget this -- in his commentary (an extra audio track on the disk) he keeps saying "This movie is entertainment, it's supposed to be fun and not taken seriously."

Barbra sings the title song (the lyrics are a bit dated, but the song is fun) and wears a short Jon Peters-designed wig. Look for Barbra's longtime manager Marty Erlichman in a cameo. Also, praise should be given to Gene Callahan's production design. Streisand's apartment (although clearly out of her character's means) is gorgeous!

My favorite scene is when Barbra gets licked by the bull while driving a trailer. Barbra's laughs of disgust and amazement are quite hilarious.

Enjoy FOR PETE'S SAKE!

"Don't let him down."
In retrospect, it isn't hard to understand why Barbra chose to make this limp, embarrassingly unfunny farce. The arty UP THE SANDBOX had just flopped and the future prospects of the just completed THE WAY WE WERE were unknown. Deciding that her reputation as a movie superstar couldn't take another project that was a commercial risk, she agreed to star in FOR PETE'S SAKE, a woefully misguided attempt at modern screwball comedy. Basically, everything that WHAT'S UP, DOC? succeeded at brilliantly, FOR PETE'S SAKE fails at miserably. Not only are the characters annoying and the puns infantile, but FOR PETE'S SAKE commits the biggest crime known to comedy: it just ain't funny. Throughout all of the typical comedic mix-ups and chases, the viewer will find his or herself moaning rather than laughing.

Barbra tries her best to pump the film up with her undeniable comic gifts, but there's no inspiration in this sitcom-level script, so even her earnest portrayal gets lost amid the murk. Michael Sarrazin fares even worse due to his badly underwritten character, and he has no chemistry with Streisand. Unfortunately, the rest of the cast doesn't fare much better. True, veteran comedic actress Molly Picon has a few amusing bits as Ms. Cherry, but none of the other supporting players are able to break out of their one-note characters. However, when a screenplay is this labored and unfunny, you can't really blame any of the actors - they obviously did the best with what they were given. It's certain that Barbra wouldn't have made this film had she known that THE WAY WE WERE was going to be a blockbuster hit, however that is not a good enough reason to excuse the poor execution behind this picture.

There are fans who like to say that the contrived box office hit THE MAIN EVENT or the off-beat box office flop ALL NIGHT LONG are Barbra's weakest films, but I must strongly disagree. THE MAIN EVENT may have been tired and predictable, but at least it was funny overall, and Streisand did had chemistry with her leading man in that one. And though ALL NIGHT LONG may have not been a perfect film (the film's soggy mid-section is it's biggest flaw), but it had a charmingly odd-ball perspective that made the movie seem bizarrely endearing. FOR PETE'S SAKE has none of the things that make THE MAIN EVENT or ALL NIGHT LONG entertaining. It just stumbles on to the finale, getting progressively worse as it goes. While FOR PETE'S SAKE was actually a box office hit in it's day, in the end it no doubt had a more damaging effect on Barbra's career. It did nothing but provide fodder for the people who never liked her to begin with.

About the DVD: The picture quality is great, much better that I expected, and the sound is also fine. Yates' commentary track isn't very interesting (and has some long silences), but it's still a nice addition.

Aptly Titled
Avoid at all costs. Streisand at her most obnoxious, weaker material than a Nick-At-Nite "Facts Of Life" marathon. Wear a life preserver if you have to sit through it because it starts sinking right away.