THE MAIN EVENT
US, 1979, 112 minutes, Colour.
Barbra Streisand, Ryan O'Neal, Paul Sand, Whitman Mayo, Patti D'Arbanville, Chu Chu Malave, Richard Lawson, James Gregory.
Directed by Howard Zieff.
Barbra Streisand and Ryan O'Neal work well together, from the hilarious What's Up Doc to this farce/sports/money/sex-comedy. Streisand (in reds to rusts) exhibits all her comic talent (always a must for fans) in fast patter, one liners and assorted routines. But O'Neal is much more lively than usual and shows comic flair complementing Streisand's. Director Howard Zieff (Slither, Hollywood Cowboy, House Calls) has a deft touch with droll characters and situations (like O'Neal's smoker's-coughing girlfriend). Capitalising on the current popularity of boxing films, women's liberation and assertion and the perennial romance and comic antagonism of the battle of the sexes, the film is entertaining.
1. An enjoyable and entertaining comedy? American style? The boxing trend of Rocky and other films of the 70s?
2. The appeal of Barbra Streisand as a screen personality, comedienne? Ryan O'Neal as a comedian and her foil? The What's Up Doc tradition? Barbra Streisand's contribution to the title song and its lyrics?
3. The popularity of boxing films? Sport, skills, training, bouts, championships? The universal appeal of the boxing film? The comic touch? The title and the anticipation?
4. How well did the opening sequences establish the comic world of the film? The exercises and the music, the world of fashion and scents? The husband and the divorce, the financial situation? Her accepting her losses with dignity? The humour of having an asset in a boxer? The establishing of the situations, the battle of the sexes, characters and types?
5. How realistic the plot? How humorous in fantasy? The heroine and her clowning, wealth, their loss? The encounter with Kid? Searching him out, his failure, working him at the gym? The humour of the Glove Driving School? His promotion, deals, training, the build-up to the main event? A pleasant blend of realism and comic fantasy?
6. The establishing of Kid as a professional boxer? His work at the gym, his not training and getting his support from the money? His trainer? The pressures to start working again? Training, the party and selling shares? The television publicity? The interview with his opponent? The training camp? The heroine in the world of the boxers, in a man's world?
7. Barbra Streisand's skill in establishing a character, poking fun at herself e.g. the opening profile, her raucous manner, her sparring with Ryan O'Neal, the knockabout comedy? Her speed of delivery, the one-liners? Her work as a comic clown even to making fun of herself?
8. Ryan O'Neal and his quieter comic style, as a foil for Streisand? The character of Kid, his presence at the gym, his being a finance asset? The Glove Driving School? His girlfriend and her smoker's cough? The party and his presence there, his attacking Hillary on the beach? The training, the humour of life at the training camp? The interview with the champion? The fight and its good humour?
9. The portrait of the girlfriend and the humorous characteristics highlighted?
10. The husband and his concern about his ex-wife, dating the girl and going to the boxing matches, their romance?
11. Kid's manager and a more serious tone to the film, their bond together, ambitions, the training and the various tryout bouts, the ending?
12. The world of gymnasiums? The sporting world? Set-ups and big business? The fights and Barbra Streisand's interference and comedy routines during the fights? The more serious presentation of championship boxing? How well filmed were the boxing sequences?
13. The build-up to the finale especially after the camp, decisions to be made, love prevailing over all!
14. The appeal of this kind of American style knockabout comedy?
