Director Michael Ritchie seemed to be on the fast track in becoming
one of Hollywood's "A" list young filmmakers. His career started in
television and hit a speed bump when he was fired from "The Man from
U.N.C.L.E." after arguing with a producer about the content of a script.
However, he eventually segued into movies. His first big screen feature
was "Downhill Racer", the 1969 drama starring Robert Redford that
displayed Ritchie's talents behind the cameras. A few years later, his
career went into overdrive. He directed the quirky hit crime film "Prime
Cut" followed by the prescient political satire "The Candidate" and
then the critically-praised satire "Smile". His genial comedy "The Bad
News Bears" proved to be a major boxoffice hit. Ritchie never stopped
working but the momentum faded by the late 1970s. He had the occasional
modest hit ("Semi-Tough", "Fletch") but all too often he was consigned
to mediocre films that played to mediocre results. Whether Ritchie was
denied bringing innovative visions to reality by short-sighted studio
executives or whether he just ran out of steam is not known. However, by
the time he died in 2001 at only 62 years of age, those of us who
admired his earlier films couldn't help but think that some great,
unfilled projects had died with him. One of Ritchie's "work-for-hire"
productions, the 1988 comedy "The Couch Trip" is now streaming on Amazon Prime. The quirky screwball concept falls short of its
potential but there is much to recommend about it.
The movie opens at a psychiatric institution in Illinois where John
W. Burns Jr. (Dan Aykroyd) is being held against his will. However, if
he is a prisoner, it is in the sense that Bob Crane's Colonel Hogan was
prisoner: the inmate is literally running the asylum. Burns has it
pretty good for an incarcerated man. He's overflowing with confidence,
charisma and superficial charm and wins over everyone in his sphere of
influence. There seem to be few pleasures that he is denied at the
institution and even finds a way to have sex with the secretary
(Victoria Jackson) of the chief psychiatrist, Dr. Lawrence Baird (David
Clennon), an uptight, humorless man who doesn't relate to the inmates
under his care. The script introduces a separate story line concerning
Dr. George Maitlin (Charles Grodin), an esteemed and very popular
psychiatrist who dispenses pearls of wisdom to "patients" who call into
his popular radio program. When it turns out that Maitlin himself is on
the verge of a nervous breakdown, he decides to take a sabbatical and
attend a professional conference in London with his bubble-headed wife
Vera (Mary Gross). He puts out the word that he wants an obscure
psychiatrist to fill in for him by hosting his radio program, on the
proviso that the substitute host isn't impressive enough to challenge
Maitland's stranglehold on his audience. When word reaches the institute
that Dr. Baird has been chosen to interview for the hosting gig, Burns
intercepts the message, orchestrates a brilliant escape, steals a car
and adopts the identity of Baird, even managing to fly to L.A. on his
plane ticket (this was 1988, after all, before today's onerous security
measures would render such a feat virtually impossible). Once in
Hollywood, Burns is met by his "colleague", Dr. Laura Rollins (Aykroyd's
real life wife Donna Dixon), who- in addition to being brainy- is also a
sexy, leggy blonde. He also meets Harvey Michaels (Richard Romanus), a
smarmy, fast-talking agent who is representing Maitland. The faux Dr.
Baird quickly intimidates Michaels by making outrageous demands to host
the radio program, all of which are met. Burns hits a speed bump when he
has a chance encounter with a seemingly crazed con man named Donald
Becker (Walter Matthau), who recognizes him as a wanted man and
threatens to expose him if he doesn't make him a partner in his schemes.
Left with no choice, Burns has Becker move into his lush hotel suite.
When Burns makes his debut in the guise of substitute host Dr. Baird
on the radio program, he radicalizes the format by dispensing brutally
honest advice to his troubled call-in audience. At times, he indulges in
outrageous behavior and tosses out obscenities that shock Michaels and
Dr. Rollins. However, all is forgiven when he becomes an overnight
sensation and a ratings smash. Before long, "Dr. Baird" is the toast of
Hollywood, leading to him making even more outrageous demands. A fly in
the ointment comes when the real Dr. Baird meets Dr. Maitland at a
convention in London. The two men realize they're being exploited and
hurry back to Hollywood where they attempt to thwart Burns as he accepts
an award on Maitland's behalf at a black tie dinner.
"The Couch Trip" starts out as an uninspired comedy but improves
considerably as it progresses. The script is most effective in
satirizing the (then) new populist trend of having troubled people rely
on advice of radio show hosts to make life-altering decisions in their
lives. The concept was absurd in the 1980s and has grown exponentially
today with people using social media platforms as Dollar Store versions
of psychiatrists, taking the advice of total strangers in regard to
resolving their most intimate problems. Aykroyd is in top form with his
cynical con man schtick. Matthau appears only fleetingly but adds his
considerable skills to the merriment- and the supporting cast is also
very amusing with Charles Grodin and David Clennon particularly funny.
Director Michael Ritchie proves to be as adept with comedy as he was
with dramas and thrillers and his "hands off" style allows both Aykroyd
and Matthau to shine. The film bombed on its theatrical release but it
offers enough gentle pleasures that it can recommended for home viewing.
