Jerry Lewis rarely played a family man – this may have been the first time he did – so it gives this otherwise undistinguished comedy some novelty. But he’s not much of a family man: he’s an insurance worker who is told he has a terminal illness, so he goes off on a fishing trip, racking up major bills on his credit cards. Then his doctor (Peter Lawford) tells him he’s not going to die, but should fake his death to get out of debt.
There’s a decent film lurking inside here somewhere, but the current plot is riddled with holes – he doesn’t seem to care about his kids, or his wife (Anne Francis), so when he finds out the doctor and wife are in cahoots, you don’t really care. Also we find out about the betrayal too late. There's some funny bits like Jerry pretending to be an Australian sheep farmer, and some decent slapstick, but generally this is poor, and throws away ideas and opportunities wholesale.
There’s a decent film lurking inside here somewhere, but the current plot is riddled with holes – he doesn’t seem to care about his kids, or his wife (Anne Francis), so when he finds out the doctor and wife are in cahoots, you don’t really care. Also we find out about the betrayal too late. There's some funny bits like Jerry pretending to be an Australian sheep farmer, and some decent slapstick, but generally this is poor, and throws away ideas and opportunities wholesale.
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