Seems Like Old Times (1980) * * *

Directed by:  Jay Sandrich

Starring:  Chevy Chase, Goldie Hawn, Charles Grodin, Robert Guillaume, George Grizzard, T.K. Carter, Harold Gould

Neil Simon's Seems Like Old Times (he wrote the film) plays like madcap romantic bedroom farce with a heart.    All of the people in it, with the exception of the bank robbers, are relatively nice and keep it together under the oddest of circumstances.    They do this by hurling one-liners at each other at a frenetic pace.   Thankfully, they don't pause long enough to understand what a silly movie they're in.  Neither do we.   Sometimes you simply need to go along for the ride.

The film opens with writer Nick Gardenia (Chase) kidnapped by two nasty bank robbers and forced to hold up a teller with a note.   The bank camera snaps a perfect shot of Nick as he exits with the money and he is now a fugitive wanted for bank robbery.   The robbers shove him out of a moving car and he rolls down the side of a hill, injuring his leg in the process.   Nick goes to the only person he feels can help him:  his attorney ex-wife Glenda (Hawn).   

Glenda is remarried to Ira (Grodin), a district attorney who is tapped to become the next California Attorney General.    Glenda reluctantly agrees to hide Nick in a room above the garage without Ira's knowledge because such a thing could be disastrous for Ira's career.    Glenda narrowly avoids Nick being discovered by Ira on several occasions, including a spontaneous visit to the room. 

Seems Like Old Times doesn't take its plot seriously.    It is just an excuse for near misses and some funny, witty banter between Chase and Hawn and Hawn and Grodin.    There are other subplots, including Glenda keeping her clients out of jail by employing all of them and a gaggle of dogs (including a humongous St. Bernard) that seem to all sleep together on the bed at the same time.   There is also Ira's dinner with the governor that does not necessarily go as expected.    You have to love George Grizzard's calm as the insanity unfolds:  "I keep my composure.   That's why I'm the governor".  

The movie was made to make us laugh.   It does so with the actors delivering their one-liners with aplomb and deadpan delivery.    Is it silly?   Yes.   Does it threaten at times to become a mite too cute?   Yes.    But the actors are clearly enjoying themselves and so do we.