bregund Because it's neither. Twice I have tried to watch this film, and each time I got about halfway through before I called it quits. In the right role Lily Tomlin pops off the screen, here her performance is lethargic and her timing is way off. I suspect it has a lot to do with Art Carney's performance...sometimes a mismatched buddy comedy really works like Rush Hour or Lethal Weapon. In this film I kept waiting for something to happen, and while the clues roll out, they emerge with all the speed and snap of a sleepy tortoise. If they had picked up the pace this could have been an interesting film, but constantly referring to how old Art Carney's character is does nothing but slow the film down. Even the retirement home sci-fi film Cocoon proved that older actors can entertain with snappy dialogue and quick cuts, so there is no excuse for this film's glacial pace. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Howard Schumann The Late Show is a murder mystery, a comedy, and a sort of romantic relationship that is so entertaining and real that you don't even mind that you can't follow the plot. The film was directed by Robert Benton who received an Oscar nomination for best screenplay and stars Art Carney ("Harry and Tonto") and Lily Tomin, (nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress) in two terrific performances.In the film, a takeoff on 40s film noir, Ira Wells (Carney) is a sixty-something washed up private eye with a bum leg and a perforated ulcer and his client Margo Stirling (Lily Tomlin) is a slightly wacky but charming woman (also irritating), fluent in seventies enlightenment lingo. Together they team up to look for the creep that killed Ira's best friend Harry Regan (Howard Duff). And not so quiet flows the blood as well as the laughs as they unravel a convoluted plot that requires a PhD minimum to understand. The blood is there to remind us that it is serious business. Otherwise, we would never know. It's such great fun.

dougdoepke Inventive blend of humor and gumshoe. Carney's an over-the-hill keyhole peeper, while new-age Tomlin can't settle on any identity. All in all, it's a great send-up of all those tough-guy private dicks of the 1940's. But don't try to follow the murder plot, which has more little twists than a mountain road. Actually, more than a whodunit, the story's about two lonely people managing to overcome personality and generational differences. There's that, plus hints that old Ira's (Carney) ulcers may have failed, but the glands are still working. As the odd couple, Carney and Tomlin shine in low-key fashion, which is as engaging as it is offbeat. There were a lot of these Chandler-Hammett spoofs at the time, (e.g. The Black Bird {1975}), but none are more imaginative than this-- after all, how many tough guys ride buses to work, or are hired to find a missing cat. Then too how many other send-ups can stand on their own apart from the spoofing format. Cleverly, this one can—as a poignant character study that somehow works. Kudoes Robert Benton for coming up with a truly novel approach to familiar subject matter. The result is both amusing and touching.

Lechuguilla Reminiscent of 1950's crime noir, this Art Carney cinematic vehicle tells the story of a retired private detective named Ira Wells (Carney), who gets involved in a murder mystery, the most engaging character in which is an aging hippie, Margo Sperling, played by Lily Tomlin.The film's plot is convoluted and hard to follow. But the real point of the film is the relationship that develops between Ira and Margo, two people who couldn't be any more opposite. The film's mood is downbeat, even depressing at times; lighting is dark; background music is sultry.Overall, I found this film to be disappointing, for several reasons, in addition to a story that is poorly plotted. Tomlin is miscast here, in my opinion. She doesn't make a good hippie; her jokes just don't work. Secondary characters (Birdwell, Escobar, Lamar, Charlie, etc.) are not interesting. The film has a very made-for-TV look and feel; sets are cheap looking. In the film's second half, there's a protracted car chase that's straight out of Hawaii Five-O. Such a film cliché worked for the TV series; it does not work here.At the film's end, a sign at a cemetery is misspelled; it reads "Cemetary". If there's ever a remake, maybe the production staff could proofread the script. Still, the misspelling is ... charming.Viewers who admire Art Carney probably will like this film, since the film orbits around his character. But if you're looking for a credible crime story, one with interesting characters, you will need to look elsewhere.