“You Have Forty-Eight Seconds to Get to the Airport.”
I’ve been trying to find a way to watch With Six You Get Eggroll for a couple of years now. I finally got access to some streaming services in the last year, and while searching them, I discovered that I could rent it on several, so I jumped at that. I’m glad I did because I had fun with it.
Abby McClure (Doris Day) is a widow with three boys she is trying to raise. Her sister, Maxine (Pat Carroll), is constantly trying to set Abby up with a man, and her latest effort involves Jake Iverson (Brian Keith). Jake is a widower with a daughter of his own, and Abby and her husband and Jake and his wife used to be friends before they drifted apart. Abby and Jake’s first meeting in years doesn’t exactly go well, but they soon find themselves falling in love much to their kids’ dismay. What will it mean for everyone if they decide to get married?
This movie came out in 1968, and in many ways, it feels like a long 1960’s sitcom. Which is rather appropriate since it is apparently one of the two movies that inspired The Brady Bunch. (Yes, I know it was a 70’s sitcom, but it started early enough the comparison works. Just go with it.) There is a little more depth to the characters here than in The Brady Bunch, but it is still an appropriate comparison. This is a light, frothy movie. There is nothing too deep or serious here. It’s a romantic comedy, after all.
If you’ve watched romantic comedies, you’ll recognize many of the situations the characters find themselves in. There’s the awkward first meeting and the misunderstanding that turn out to be about nothing, for example. The kids do add some new twists on the familiar, but they are still familiar situations.
I also felt that the movie tried to wrap things up too quickly. If this really were a sitcom, I think we’d have about 5 or 6 episodes in this hour and a half movie. That means some of the storylines are introduced and brought to a fast conclusion. And there is definitely an episodic feel to the movie.
But here’s the thing – the movie is fun. The banter is clever and made me smile and laugh. And the characters are loveable. We want to see them overcome the obstacles in their path. I had the biggest grin on my face at the end.
Much of that goes to the actors, who are all wonderful at making us love their characters even when they are being annoying. I was actually surprised with how many of the actors in the cast I recognized from other projects. Don’t get me wrong, the majority I didn’t know, which is usually the case when I watch older films, but those connections I did make were fun for me. Anyway, the actors really elevated the writing, making the dialogue snappy when it should be, and bringing an overall warmth to their characters.
With Six You Get Eggroll is a light, comedic movie, which is perfect because that is all it is trying to be. If you are looking for something that will leave you smiling, this movie is certainly worth watching.
Is it bad that I DID know most of the supporting cast? I watched way too many "old" movies in high school. This was a fun one. Of course, now you need to watch Yours, Mine, and Ours with Henry Fonda!
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