Barefoot in the Park (1967)
The other day, the wife and I were exhausted after a long day and wished to watch a film that has a simple plot and fun to watch. Luckily, Netflix had such a film — Barefoot in the Park (1967), which was based on a stage play by the same name, and written by Neil Simon. For a movie that’s fifty years old, there was HD quality available — may be a digitally remastered recently.
The story couldn’t get any simpler for a feature film, but the actors — just four main characters with just a few others — and the dialogues made it interesting and humorous. A newly-wed couple Paul (Robert Redford) and Corie (Jane Fonda) move to their newly rented apartment, after staying for their honeymoon in a 5-star hotel. The New York apartment happens to be on the sixth floor with no elevator and with a tiny single-bed room. Before they could settle down with their married life, Corie tries to hook up her widowed mother with their upstairs neighbour — an eccentric character named Victor Velasco. What happens in this mix is the movie.
Corie is happy-go-lucky, but Paul who is a lawyer is dignified and professional all the time — Corie calls him a “stuffed shirt”. There were small joys which are lost in the fast-paced world we live in now, are shown in the film — like when Corie gets a telephone fixed and dials up Paul, or, like when Paul shares a drink with a stranger in the park and starts dancing “barefoot”.
Like a P.G.Wodehouse book, nothing bad happens in this film. There are no bad guys, no tears, no chases, no twists, yet was humorous to watch. I and wife both enjoyed every bit of the film.
Originally published at Venkatarangan Thirumalai blog.
