When I looked over the IMDb entry for THREE ON A COUCH, I was completely surprised by the overall rating of 6.1 as well as how positive the reviews were--especially when I saw someone who gave it a 10. Giving this movie a 10 is simply impossible to believe. While I don't fault anyone for liking this movie (though I truly hated it), a 10 implies perfection. And, considering that this is a comedy without a single laugh, a 10 just seems ludicrous and is perhaps evidence that the Jerry Lewis cult is alive and well. Don't believe the scores--this is a truly bad film and my 2 is actually rather generous! I am not the only one who hated it, as the film had an entry in the book "The Fifty Worst Movies of All Time" by Harry Medved. While perhaps he was overstating it to say it was among the 50 worst, it is bad....very, very bad.
Now the first half hour of the film wasn't bad (which is how the movie manages to earn a 2)--though it looked nothing like a comedy. Jerry is an artist (though, oddly, we never see him paint or see any of his art even once during the film) and has received an award to paint an important mural in Paris. However, his fiancée (Janet Leigh) is nuts, as she won't go with him--saying that her job as a psychiatrist precludes having a life. She won't transfer three of her clients to another therapist and has an overly developed sense of responsibility towards them. So far, so good. It's an interesting idea for a drama, though there's nothing remotely comedic about this.
Now Jerry and his friend (James Best) come up with a plan to "cure" Leigh's three patients. The three all have been hurt by men, so Jerry decides to pretend to be the perfect man for each of them--and hopefully getting each to come out of their shell--therefore allowing Leigh to let go of them and move to Paris with Jerry. An interesting though silly idea, it is handled with absolutely no subtlety or style. Instead, Jerry acts like an obnoxious moron--and in two of the cases, is so over the top and so irritating that you would assume the women are compete imbeciles to like him. The worst was his cowboy role. Practically every elementary school actor could be more convincing! To show that he's a real cowboy, Jerry moves a cigar around like he has the lit end in his mouth and mugs so much that it's downright nauseating. Additionally, the nerd he plays comes off more like a combination of Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams (I am not exaggerating). I mean no offense against Capote or Williams, but they were flamboyantly gay as was Jerry's nerd. That any woman would be taken in my his incredibly effeminate style is astounding. I also wonder if some viewers might be offended by how campy this portrayal was.
The bottom line is that the film isn't funny, and considering it's supposed to be a comedy, that's an insurmountable obstacle. The fact is, Mr. Lewis can be funny but he can also be very, very unfunny. This film is easily the worst of his movies that I have seen (even worse than CRACKING UP--which gave me a migraine), though I have also heard that SLAPSTICK OF ANOTHER KIND is worse--I have yet to see it. Don't believe the cult-like devotion of some fans--this film is embarrassingly bad.
Now the first half hour of the film wasn't bad (which is how the movie manages to earn a 2)--though it looked nothing like a comedy. Jerry is an artist (though, oddly, we never see him paint or see any of his art even once during the film) and has received an award to paint an important mural in Paris. However, his fiancée (Janet Leigh) is nuts, as she won't go with him--saying that her job as a psychiatrist precludes having a life. She won't transfer three of her clients to another therapist and has an overly developed sense of responsibility towards them. So far, so good. It's an interesting idea for a drama, though there's nothing remotely comedic about this.
Now Jerry and his friend (James Best) come up with a plan to "cure" Leigh's three patients. The three all have been hurt by men, so Jerry decides to pretend to be the perfect man for each of them--and hopefully getting each to come out of their shell--therefore allowing Leigh to let go of them and move to Paris with Jerry. An interesting though silly idea, it is handled with absolutely no subtlety or style. Instead, Jerry acts like an obnoxious moron--and in two of the cases, is so over the top and so irritating that you would assume the women are compete imbeciles to like him. The worst was his cowboy role. Practically every elementary school actor could be more convincing! To show that he's a real cowboy, Jerry moves a cigar around like he has the lit end in his mouth and mugs so much that it's downright nauseating. Additionally, the nerd he plays comes off more like a combination of Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams (I am not exaggerating). I mean no offense against Capote or Williams, but they were flamboyantly gay as was Jerry's nerd. That any woman would be taken in my his incredibly effeminate style is astounding. I also wonder if some viewers might be offended by how campy this portrayal was.
The bottom line is that the film isn't funny, and considering it's supposed to be a comedy, that's an insurmountable obstacle. The fact is, Mr. Lewis can be funny but he can also be very, very unfunny. This film is easily the worst of his movies that I have seen (even worse than CRACKING UP--which gave me a migraine), though I have also heard that SLAPSTICK OF ANOTHER KIND is worse--I have yet to see it. Don't believe the cult-like devotion of some fans--this film is embarrassingly bad.