What's So Bad About Feeling Good? (1968)

A former advertising executive (George Peppard) is living life as a Bohemian in Greenwich Village along with his live in girlfriend (Mary Tyler Moore). They are part of a cynical group of artists who feel life is essentially meaningless. But when a Toucan carrying a unique virus arrives in New York City, their lives abruptly change as the virus causes people to be happy and caring. The government, of course, sees this as some kind of communist plot to undermine the U.S. Based on the novel I AM THINKING OF MY DARLING by Vincent McHugh and directed by George Seaton (AIRPORT). This attempt at a whimsical satirical comedy might have worked better in the 1930s with Rene Clair in the director's seat. As it is, despite some charm, it plays out like a one joke premise that exhausts itself way before the end credits show up. Mary Tyler Moore is delightful but Peppard's forte has never been comedy. The movie's eerie prescience regarding the current Covid -19 pandemic gives the film a layer it didn't have in 1968. With Thelma Ritter, Susan Saint James, Dom DeLuise, Don Stroud, John McMartin, Nathaniel Frey and Charles Lane.