40 years on this film is still funny, poignant and tragic all at the same time

Rating: 8/10 (10 August 2011)

I saw this film for the first time on TV in the seventies and have never seen it at the cinema but based on my experience of watching it on the small screen I would recommend it to anyone. In my opinion its not the best film ever made but its well worth its current position of 152 in the IMDb all time chart. I laughed when I saw this film at the first viewing and I have got to say that I still laugh whenever I see the film although not quite as much. Of course there is more to this film than just the laughs and the film has a good feeling about it and by that I mean that it seems to have been created with a good deal of care and the professionals involved all seem to have done their part. In many ways it was a film like the Sting which was of its time but doesn't really compare favourably to the really great films before or after it was made. That said and after all its only my opinion its well worth watching and is almost two hours of good entertainment.