What About Bob? is a 1991 comedy film directed by Frank Oz, and starring Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss. Murray plays Bob Wiley, a multiphobic psychiatric patient who follows his successful and (beyond) egotistical psychiatrist Dr. Leo Marvin (played by Dreyfuss) on vacation. When the unstable Bob befriends the other members of Marvin's family, it pushes the doctor over the edge. Upon seeing his performance at the world premiere, Steven Spielberg spent $250,000 on a campaign to not only get Bill Murray nominated for the Best Leading Actor Academy Award but actually win it. Murray didn't receive a nomination and he on several occasions has attempted to pay Spielberg back, but Spielberg refused.[1]
Murray improvised so many lines during the movie that accurate scripts couldn't be written until after shooting the scenes.[citation needed]
This film is number 43 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies". This film was made in Tamil as Thenali
Plot summary
When Dr. Leo Marvin (Richard Dreyfuss), a trained psychiatrist, goes on vacation to Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire, he leaves his new patient, Bob Wiley (Bill Murray), on his own with a copy of Marvin's latest book, "Baby Steps." Bob is a very nice man, but he suffers from multiple phobias and his last psychiatrist, Dr. Carswell Fensterwald (driven to the brink of a nervous breakdown) is quitting his practice for a while and leaving town to get away from Bob.
Bob, terrified that he can’t make it without his doctor, contacts him twice by phone. Leo, however, makes it quite clear that he has no desire to work on his vacation. Desperate, Bob fakes his own death and poses as a homicide detective in order to find out where Leo's vacation home is. Bob then takes a bus to New Hampshire, where arriving at a gas station he begins frantically calling Leo's name. Upon seeing him, Leo is visibly upset, but agrees to call Bob at a local coffee shop. In return, Bob promises to return to New York via bus as soon as their session is over.
Bob waits diligently until just after 3:00. At this point, a chance comment alerts the Guttmans, the proprietors of the coffee shop, that Dr. Marvin is going to call him. The Guttmans have nursed a vicious grudge against Dr. Marvin, who purchased the vacation home which they had been saving to buy. Sensing a chance to make Leo miserable, the Guttmans offer to drive Bob directly there. After making his point to Bob about not being able to see him on vacation, Leo writes him a prescription saying, "Take a vacation from your problems." Bob seems to have made a breakthrough, but arrives the next morning and explains to Leo that he has decided to remain in New Hampshire on vacation. He also tells Leo that he's staying with the Guttmans, who have suggested that he visit the Marvins as a friend, not a patient.
Leo's family is increasingly charmed to have Bob with them. However, Bob's presence causes a number of events that shatter Leo's characteristic calm demeanor and transform him into a walking time bomb. First of all, Bob befriends Leo's kids, Anna and Sigmund, named for psychiatrist Sigmund Freud and his daughter, Anna Freud. Anna is a typical teenage girl, distraught over having to deal with a father that communicates with her through hand puppets and other psychological aids. She sees Bob as a kindred spirit and helps him to conquer his fear of sailing. When an enraged Leo objects to her spending time with his patient, she accuses her father of being insensitive, of never listening, and of not being any fun. To Leo's horror, she says that Bob is just the opposite.
Sigmund, however, believes that he has lost his childhood and has an obsessive fixation with the inevitability of death. Bob becomes a father figure to him and helps Sigmund gain enough confidence to dive into the water (a feat Leo was previously unable to accomplish). He also persuades Sigmund that Tourettes syndrome is much a better focus for his fear.
To Leo's further horror, his wife Fay (Julie Hagerty) invites Bob over for dinner. Bob continues to irritate Leo by going "Mmmmmm. Mmmmmm." during dinner. Leo starts choking on a piece of chicken and Bob performs the Heimlich maneuver to save his life. When a thunderstorm prevents him from going home, Leo is forced to let him spend the night.
The next morning, Leo anxiously prepares for a live interview with Good Morning America to publicize his book. He tries frantically to get Bob to leave before the TV crew arrives, to no avail, and Bob is actually allowed to appear on camera with Leo, and completely steals the limelight. After the TV crew leaves, an outraged Leo throws a massive tantrum, kicks Bob out of the house and, after appearing to have calmed down, takes Bob to a mental institution.
Leo returns home, ecstatic that he has outsmarted Bob. As soon as he arrives, however, he receives a phone call from the institution. Leo returns to find that Bob has completely charmed the doctors, nurses and other staff, and convinced them he is perfectly sane. Leo grudgingly picks Bob up, but throws an even bigger tantrum when Bob suggests that they meet for therapy sessions. Leo kicks Bob out of the car in the middle of nowhere and drives off.
Hurrying away from Bob, Leo is pulled over for speeding, gets a flat tire and is covered with mud from the wake of a passing car. It is nightfall when Leo returns home, beyond enraged.
Upon walking out onto the veranda, Leo is surprised by the birthday party which Fay has been secretly planning for him. The sight of his friends, colleagues, and especially his beloved sister Lily seem to put him in much better spirits. All of a sudden, Bob appears and puts his arm around Lily. This is the final straw; Leo becomes completely psychotic, attacking the bewildered Bob. Fay reluctantly informs Bob that he is the cause of Leo's instability, and Bob sadly agrees to leave once and for all.
Meanwhile, Leo sneaks out of the house and breaks into a sporting goods store, stealing a shotgun and 20 pounds of black powder. He then kidnaps Bob at gunpoint, ties him to a log, and straps the explosives to him, maniacally labeling the bombs as "Death therapy, Bob. It's a guaranteed cure."
Leo, overjoyed to be free at last, returns to his house and dances around the yard. Bob, however, is convinced the explosives are fake, and its all just more radical therapy. Using Leo's "Baby Step" approach to tackling large problems, Bob unties his knots and returns to Leo and the family at the vacation home's dock, holding Leo's birthday cake, happily proclaiming that Leo has cured him. Leo, astounded to see Bob again, demands to know where the bags full of explosives are. At that moment, Leo's extravagant house is blown to pieces as the therapist's cherished bust of Sigmund Freud lands at his feet.
In the aftermath, Leo, has become completely catatonic and is temporarily institutionalized. Later, at his sister Lily's wedding to Bob, Leo recovers his senses just as Lily and Bob are pronounced husband and wife, screaming a desperate, "NO!" His words are lost in his family's joy at having him back. A title card appears in the end that says:
"Bob went back to school and became a psychologist.
He then wrote a huge best seller, Death Therapy.
Leo is suing him for the rights."
Cast
Production notes
- The house used in the filming still stands. The exploding house was a prop house built for the explosion on a nearby lake front lot; the local inhabitants gathered to watch the explosion from land and boats.
- The scenes of Bob arriving in town on the bus with his goldfish were filmed in downtown Moneta, which was spruced up and repainted for the movie.
- The local institute which Leo tries to commit Bob in is actually the local Elks Home for retirees in the nearby town of Bedford, Virginia.
References
External links
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Films directed by Frank Oz |
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| 1990s |
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