Everything Feels Off—and That’s the Point

MOVIE REVIEW
Foul Play (4KUHD)
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Genre: Parody, Comedy, Mystery, Thriller
Year Released: 1978, Kino Lorber 4K 2025
Runtime: 1h 56m
Director(s): Colin Higgins
Writer(s): Colin Higgins
Cast: Chevy Chase, Goldie Hawn, Burgess Meredith, Dudley Moore, Brian Dennehy, Rachel Roberts, Eugene Roche, Marc Lawrence, Don Calfa, Chuck McCann, Marilyn Sokol, Billy Barty, William Frankfather, Bruce Solomon, Lou Cutell
Where to Watch: Available April 22, 2025. Pre-order your copy here: www.kinolorber.com or www.amazon.com

RAVING REVIEW: What happens when a suspense thriller takes a sharp left turn into farce but still tries to keep its footing in romance and mystery? You get a movie that dares to misbehave within its own genre rules. FOUL PLAY doesn’t just transition between tones—it runs them down, laughs in the confusion, and somehow turns the chaos into its greatest strength. The result is a film that’s rarely predictable but always in motion, switching moods mid-scene and embracing its oddball energy without hesitation.

At the center of this storm is Gloria, a librarian with a calm demeanor and no interest in danger, who winds up entangled in a plot that puts her life on the line. It’s not her strength or strategy that gets her through, but her ability to adapt. Rather than become a fearless fighter or a sudden genius, she fumbles, stumbles, and endures—often against over-the-top obstacles. Something is engaging about how she remains herself despite the increasingly surreal situations closing in around her. That resistance is part of the film’s charm.

Where many stories force transformation, this one leans into evolution. Gloria isn’t turned into a new person; she’s simply forced to confront things far beyond her comfort zone. Her ability to handle the madness isn’t the result of a newfound skillset—it's her unwillingness to give up when the rules of the world around her start making less and less sense. It’s a refreshing shift from the typical trajectory of turning ordinary leads into unlikely superheroes.

Her counter, a detective brought in to investigate her claims, is introduced as the kind of guy who raises an eyebrow before getting involved. His disbelief is understandable; the plot she describes sounds implausible even within the film’s reality. But as events escalate and evidence mounts, he softens, less the hero stepping in to save the day, more the reluctant companion swept into someone else’s story. Their bond evolves organically, never pushed into melodrama, and that restraint lets the connection breathe.

What elevates the film is the strange cast orbiting around them. Eccentric doesn’t even begin to describe the supporting characters. From a wildly inappropriate music conductor to a landlord who moonlights as a martial artist, the ensemble exists between sketch comedy and narrative support. They aren’t window dressing but crucial to the movie. The film thrives on these odd detours and exaggerated personalities and never tries to justify their presence with backstory or logic. They’re here because the world demands a little more chaos.

The antagonists, in particular, feel pulled from an entirely different reality. A silent albino killer, a scar-faced thug, and a group of ideological extremists all operate more like animated villains than tangible threats. Yet, their outlandish qualities are precisely what keep the tone intact. They reinforce that the stakes are real but filtered through an absurd lens. You’re not meant to be terrified; you’re meant to be off balance. That’s a tricky tone to hit, and the film rarely misses.

Still, no film juggles this many elements without dropping a few. Some sequences, particularly action set pieces, drag beyond their limit. Sometimes, humor lingers too, and a few gags are explained instead of being trusted to land naturally. 

What truly surprises is how it manages to sneak in deeper commentary without pausing the show. It touches on ideological extremism, the failures of institutions, and the absurdity of bureaucratic systems while maintaining a tone that never veers into moralizing. These undercurrents give the narrative a backbone. They’re not front and center but doing work beneath the comedy and chaos, keeping it from collapsing into pure farce.

In a world full of slick, highly categorized thrillers, it’s refreshing to see one embrace unpredictability without apology. It’s funny without being smug, wild without becoming incoherent, and chaotic without sacrificing intent. Its willingness to throw everything against the wall and still come out with a functioning story is a rare feat.

This is a film that doesn’t mind coloring outside the lines. Its energy is mismatched on purpose, its characters unhinged by design. It doesn’t follow a formula—it just charges ahead, confident that the pieces will fall into place. And for the most part, they do. The result is a comedy-thriller hybrid that dares to be silly, smart, and self-aware, without choosing which things matter more.

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[photo courtesy of KINO LORBER]

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