All of MeThey say opposites attract, and that's doubly true for Roger Cobb (Steve Martin), a struggling lawyer who moonlights as a jazz musician, and Edwina Cutwater (Lily Tomlin), a dying woman whose fortune isn't enough to keep death from knocking at her door...or is it? Edwina has no desire to shuffle off this mortal coil, having been an invalid her entire life, so she has arranged through a mystic ritual to put her soul into the body of her stableman's daughter, Terry (Victoria Tennant). But as the ceremony goes awry at the key moment, she ends up with one foot in the grave...and one in Roger.
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All of Me marks the fourth collaboration between physical comedy master, Steve Martin, and director Carl Reiner; their previous entry was also a story to an extent about body-swapping, The Man With Two Brains. At its core, All of Me is a life-affirming tale, thoroughly plucking the cords of "carpe diem". Edwina is initially portrayed as a cold and selfish aristocrat with more money than heart; she ironically observes that her literal heart has always been at the root of her suffering. But something that Edwina has learned to understand by necessity--something Roger struggles to fully appreciate--is to make the most of life while one is alive to live it. Roger is unhappy with his life, although he pleasantly pretends otherwise, a fact observed by Terry shortly after their meeting. Having just celebrated his thirty-eighth birthday, he continues to glide along in his life, frustrated that he isn't excelling in the law firm owned by his girlfriend's father, Burton Schuyler (Dana Elcar), something his girlfriend Peggy (Madolyn Smith) is quick to pick up on, and she dodges his efforts to engage her in marriage. Law may be a passion for Roger, but not that of the three-piece errand boy routine he's been saddled with for years; his wish is to help the downtrodden, not pamper rich sophisticates with money to throw around. Fundamentally, this is why Roger doesn't like Edwina; aside from bitterness, she believes in the prospect that money can buy her way out of death, and has recruited an eccentric swami named Prahka Lasa (Richard Libertini) to that end. Roger's other passion is as a musician, and when he tells his blind bandmate, Tyrone Wattell (Jason Bernard), that he is giving up his music for the chance at making partner, even Roger knows that this isn't what's truly in his heart, and Tyrone calls him out on it. Roger needs a second opinion--a guiding hand--although Edwina is not the voice of a conscience that he could ever have anticipated.
When Edwina finally departs, her soul ends up in Prahka's bowl, which falls out the window to strike Roger on the head. After the accident, Roger has a period of adjustment to Edwina's dominance over the right side of his body, which leads to expectedly hilarious physical comedy and sight gags. Edwina manifests with not only a feminine manner--resulting in Roger getting mystified stares from his friends and colleagues--but also via Roger's reflection in the mirror. So as Roger talks "to himself", he is actually face to face with his dexterous usurper. Roger and Edwina struggle with the intimate nature of their cohabitation, notably when Roger finds himself being seduced by Terry, and Edwina finds herself unsure how to cope with the strange new sensations she's experiencing in Roger's body. There is even a subtle reference to Terry's true character in the form of the change in color of her undergarments, a nod to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. But forced to get to know one another better, Roger and Edwina eventually reveal their respective needs, consciously or no, and the two even begin to begrudgingly like one another, bickering like a married couple as they stare at each other in the mirror while Roger shaves. Although superficially a silly, "body swap" comedy, All of Me has lots of small touches which give justification for the actions of the characters, and even crucial, almost unnoticeable details to reinforce characters' motivations, especially that of the sacrificial vessel, Terry Hoskins, and her corroboration with Edwina's scheme to cheat death. And although the mysticism is played principally for yucks, the frank acceptance of death as a part of life and one's soul in the context of the universe makes Roger's problems seem small by comparison, and helps him--and the audience--to reach perspective about the value of life and what in it makes it worth living.
Recommended for: Fans of a smart and silly comedy--half and half, if you will. It's a story about death, and is life-affirming, and yet has plenty of slapstick to keep audiences in stitches.
When Edwina finally departs, her soul ends up in Prahka's bowl, which falls out the window to strike Roger on the head. After the accident, Roger has a period of adjustment to Edwina's dominance over the right side of his body, which leads to expectedly hilarious physical comedy and sight gags. Edwina manifests with not only a feminine manner--resulting in Roger getting mystified stares from his friends and colleagues--but also via Roger's reflection in the mirror. So as Roger talks "to himself", he is actually face to face with his dexterous usurper. Roger and Edwina struggle with the intimate nature of their cohabitation, notably when Roger finds himself being seduced by Terry, and Edwina finds herself unsure how to cope with the strange new sensations she's experiencing in Roger's body. There is even a subtle reference to Terry's true character in the form of the change in color of her undergarments, a nod to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. But forced to get to know one another better, Roger and Edwina eventually reveal their respective needs, consciously or no, and the two even begin to begrudgingly like one another, bickering like a married couple as they stare at each other in the mirror while Roger shaves. Although superficially a silly, "body swap" comedy, All of Me has lots of small touches which give justification for the actions of the characters, and even crucial, almost unnoticeable details to reinforce characters' motivations, especially that of the sacrificial vessel, Terry Hoskins, and her corroboration with Edwina's scheme to cheat death. And although the mysticism is played principally for yucks, the frank acceptance of death as a part of life and one's soul in the context of the universe makes Roger's problems seem small by comparison, and helps him--and the audience--to reach perspective about the value of life and what in it makes it worth living.
Recommended for: Fans of a smart and silly comedy--half and half, if you will. It's a story about death, and is life-affirming, and yet has plenty of slapstick to keep audiences in stitches.