Down and Out in Beverly Hills

This isn't one of Mazursky's better, serious films but it is an awful lot of fun nevertheless and it stays in the memory. It's an American reworking of Renoir's "Boudu sauve des eaux" and in the role of the scampish tramp it has the great Nick Nolte who looks like a disheveled bear. He's the Boudu character rescued by Beverly Hills businessman Richard Dreyfuss who is as genial and as soft as a poached egg and who radiates goodness. He's the kind of man who feels he has to set the world to rights but isn't pushy enough to do it. That can't be said of his jiggly wife, Bette Midler, who is brash, lewd and who seems to be wearing dresses several sizes too small for her. Midler moves like a mini tornado and her performance has some of the energy of her stage shows. Between them, Nolte, Dreyfuss and Midler bring combined wit and intelligence to the material. They seem to be having a right old time and their pleasure is infectious. Mazursky keeps things on a low boil and lets his players have their rein. It's to our advantage.