That Funny Feeling (1965)

The movie starts off great but then runs out of gas about halfway through and never comes back. That, coupled with a weak ending makes a disappointing final product. The first half is funny with a lot of funny dialog. The plot is a little one-dimensional and that's OK as long as the script is working, but in the second half the straightforward plot starts to get tiresome. Watch for many cameos and bit parts from actors you know...that helps to carry the movie. Arte Johnson succeeds in making an impression with just one minute of screen time and only a few lines, they should have given him more. Donald O'Conner has a large part but it's unsatisfying. He's too much bluster all the way through, his role is too much a single note. He does play a role in the plot it's not important enough and his character is too thin. He has one great joke ("teach her to walk") but other than that his presence fails to gel. He's so talented but you don't see that here. I think it would have been better if his part had been sillier, but of course I realize that it's a fine line between too straight and too silly.The style is the same type of sex comedy we know so well, everything seems innocent on the surface but the script is constantly spinning out suggestive jokes that can be interpreted in a sexual way. Since it's hard for any 1960s era movie to shock me, this style of script doesn't work very well and I usually find them juvenile, boring, and trite. But this one works better for at least two reasons: 1: it's funny stuff and B: it's pretty x-rated, helping it to retain its shock value.The first part of the script is full of great jokes and ambitious scenes with crowds of people, but at the half way mark that just stops. The funny dialog stops, the silly and ambitious scenes stop and the straight-forward plot is allowed to just run its course. Then there is one more huge joke (the phone booth) and that's it, the rest of the movie is flat. Then they do a big ambitious production piece for the climax but they don't do much with it and then the final climax is weak. Of course in any romantic film you need that final climactic kiss. It's usually boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy and girl get back together, climactic kiss...we all cry and go home fulfilled. In this movie they choose not to do that. They don't build the movie up to that final climactic kiss and in fact there is no kiss there. That's an odd choice and what they have there instead is weak.

"That Funny Feeling" doesn't by any means test the acting capabilities of Darin, or the glamour of Dee, but it is nonetheless a delightful, funny, and even colorful, film. As a bemused and confused victim of "Joan"'s bizarre method of dealing with an unacceptable home address. There are some great visuals, Darin climbing out of the upstairs window to avoid a confrontation in his own apartment with "Joan", the phone booth scene, the moment when he gets in the cab and in answer to the question, "where to?" simply says, "I don't know." Darin and co-star Sandra Dee look great together - no wonder that happened! And it is always fun to see Donald O'Connor too. I'd have loved to hear more songs from Darin, but the plot just didn't call for them. The title song is a very catchy, though. It is a movie that takes me back to what was best in the '60's - innocent fun and romance with humor and charm.

That Funny Feeling is a delightful, up-beat, cute, funny, and entertaining film. Out-dated for sure, but the movie captures a more innocent time(the early 1960s), when getting a kiss was a big deal. Sandra Dee is at her most beautiful. She was so lovely, so attractive; this role was meant for her. She gives a great performance. Bobby Darren sings the opening song and gives an equally great performance. You can see the sparks fly between these two "real-life" love-birds. Any fan of Sandra or Bobby will enjoy this light-hearted romantic tale.This is a great movie to watch on a rainy night with someone you are romantically involved with.

An unexciting turn from Sandra Dee as a maid who pretends that she lives in her bosses apartment, with predictable results. Bobby Darin is usually uninspiring, and his performance is predictable. Donald O'Connor is the only bright spot in this otherwise unimaginative, makeshift romantic comedy. A routine time-waster.