When a mutual friend dies suddenly, four friends cram themselves into a Volkswagen Beetle to attend the funeral: a public relations man (George Segal), a writer (Joseph Wiseman), an essayist (Jack Warden) and a book reviewer (Sorrell Booke). Based on the novel TO AN EARLY GRAVE by Wallace Markfield and directed by Sidney Lumet (DOG DAY AFTERNOON). Oy Vey! What a dud! Sidney Lumet is the last director one would think of for a comedy. Many of his dramas have a heavy touch to put it mildly and this attempt at black comedy could have used a lighter brush. Filled with Jewish stereotypes, the film goes in circles in search of ..... what? It's cobbled together and the lack of cohesiveness only accentuates how makeshift the project feels. I'm all for ethnic humor but there's something condescending here. With Jessica Walter, Phyllis Newman, Alan King, Godfrey Cambridge (saddled with the movie's worst scene) and Zohra Lampert (the only character in the movie I could relate to).
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