Making Mr. Right (1987)

The two stars of the film are John Malkovich and Ann Magnuson. John Malkovich is now renowned as a consummate actor, and in this film he has a tour de force in a dual role playing Dr. Jeff Peters, an all-serious engineer/scientist and the look-alike android he created for a one-person multi-year deep space mission which the characters believe would be too lonely for a human to endure. Unfortunately, Ann Magnuson did not enjoy similar success as a film actress following this part. I found that surprising because she was truly excellent as Frankie Stone, a respected publicist hired to convince the government to provide funds for continuation of Dr. Peters' deep space project. Frankie's approach is to make the android (named Ulysses) more engaging and interesting to the general public during interviews. That is, to make it more human-like. Magnuson, a red-head, was around 30 years old when the film was made, and I thought at times that I was watching a 30 year old Shirley MacLaine.The style of the film as a whole seemed to me to belong to an earlier time in the film industry, more like 1950s era romantic comedies. I checked to see if the film had been made earlier and not released until 1987, but found nothing to indicate that. Perhaps I'm just not remembering that time period accurately.

With the ratings this film has I didn't expect much, but instead found a hilarious rom com. Malkovich and Magnuson have great chemistry, and are able to carry this throughout the movie. Malkovich also does a nice job of playing the "android" without portraying a stereotypical robot. Minor characters such as the mother Estelle Stone (Polly Bergen), eccentric Sandy (Laurie Metcalf), and liberal Ivy Stone (Susan Berman) are also quite lovable. I stumbled upon Making Mr. Right On Demand and would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a good comedy. The ridiculous 80s wardrobes, as worn most notably by Magnuson and Bergen, only add to this understated classic. With memorable characters and lines, a funny plot, and much more to offer I'm surprised this film isn't as popular as it should be.

An bright, smart, beautiful woman named Frankie Stone (Ann Magnuson) is public relations executive. She been hired by a huge technology company to "humanaize" their latest work. An dorky, curious, android named Ulysses (John Malkovich). Which Ulysses is been trained to be an astronaut. Ulysses is the likeness of a cold-hearted scientist named Jeff Peters (Also played by Malkovich). At first, Frankie finds her latest assignment to be truly strange. As she gets to know Ulysses much better than Peters, she slowly falls in love with Ulysses! Ulysses starting to be more curious about the human life than being an astronaut. Which Peters is absolutely furious, since it taken him years to train Ulysses and drives him crazy that Ulysses only wants to know about love! Directed by Susan Seidelman (Cookie, Desperately Seeking Susan, She-Devil) made an amusing romantic comedy with superb comic performances by Malkovich and Magnuson. "Making Mr. Right" was an flop, when it was released in 1987. But the movie did went on to have an loyal cult following. It is fun to watch Malkovich in a charming, extremely funny and touching role. Which it is rare for Malkovich. Magnuson is certainly an knockout in her role. Glenne Headly does have some very amusing moments as Stone's best friend and Laurie Metcalf does have some good moments as the annoying woman in Peters' life.DVD has an sharp anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1) transfer (also in Pan & Scan) and an good Dolby 2.0 Surround Sound. DVD's only feature is the original theatrical trailer. In a way, "Making Mr. Right" is a odd romantic comedy with some original effective moments that makes this movie unique. The movie has an great if unusual ending as well. Die-fans of Malkovich certainly should check the movie out. Great use of "The Turtles" song titled "Happy Together" at the end. "Making Mr. Right" is certainly an curio. (****/*****).

I saw this film inadvertently, on a rainy Saturday afternoon in 1989, on pay cable. Had the sun been out and the barbecue not postponed, I might have missed this oft-overlooked Susan Seidelman entry.Okay, the plot - an image consultant is hired by the space program to groom a more palatable public image for its new android - is a bit far-fetched. It's a COMEDY. And the android, a doppelganger of its inventor (John Malkovich in a dual role), is imbued with its own personality. It's a COMEDY. And the top-secret android stows away and accompanies the image consultant off of the high-security base. It's a COMEDY.The purpose of this film was not to rival the "Star Wars" series with credible science fiction, nor to join the likes of "The Andromeda Strain" in the annals of tense government-related thrillers. The real spark behind "Making Mr. Right" is to explore what a contemporary woman might do if she had the opportunity to...well...make Mr. Right.As a fan of both the sci-fi and comedy genres, I quickly recognized this and relaxed my suspension of disbelief as the necessary nuts-and-bolts elements of android creation were hurled at me. Having done this, I managed to enjoy a passable comedy with a few laugh-out-loud moments.Malkovich, of course, is brilliant in his dual role as the antisocial inventor of the android, and the physically mature but childishly curious android itself. And Laurie Metcalf shows her gift for simultaneously subtle and over-the-top comedy in her role as the dangerously codependent co-worker who wants to claim the nebbish scientist for her own.Love triangles, double ententes and mistaken identity form the nexus of the comedic plot, but the film's conclusion about both the quest for and flight from love was poignant. The fact that said conclusions are not necessarily logical seems foregone, as love and logic almost always operate independently of one another.