Gene Saks
Barefoot in the Park

"Barefoot in the Park" is one of the most known and performed comedies by Neil Simon; it was an enormous success on Broadway right from the start, and in 1967, the screenplay was adapted for the cinema (by Simon himself) for the film of the same name directed by Gene Saks. This comedy is one of the many examples of how you can create a success and an excellent film without trying to construct complex screenplays that lead nowhere; this has been one of the winning ways of American comedy, telling stories starting from the simplest bases of daily life, describing normal moments of often ordinary lives to immortalize contemporary reality. Today, comedy is in crisis also because no one tells stories anymore, but space is given to improbable fantasies that have very little to say; indeed, the last significant playwright around is Allen, who in his films always tries to represent real life as much as possible with an ironic key. Returning to the film, it is the story of the misadventures of a newlywed couple in an old New York building inhabited by strange characters, an elderly Casanova with a weakness for cooking (Charles Boyer), a series of mysterious characters mentioned but never appearing, and a man locked in his apartment for three years who seems to only nourish himself on canned tuna. The couple has the considerable disadvantage of being on the top floor of the building (without an elevator, of course), and on this element, Simon constructs very witty and successful gags. One of the key themes of the film is a classic, the meeting/clash between two very different personalities, Paul (Robert Redford) is a young lawyer with little money and a strong desire for a career, a sober and simple type who has married the extroverted and bubbly Corie (Jane Fonda), a girl with an impulsive personality who never thinks before she speaks or acts, causing Paul a series of truly embarrassing situations. The two will have moments of tension, truthfully triggered by very trivial reasons, leading one of them to reveal their hidden side and "walk barefoot in the park".

Shot almost entirely indoors and mainly in the disastrous and tiny apartment of the two, it maintains a typically theatrical language and stage setting, the dialogues are fast and ironic, the pace is relentless, and the many situations the two face thanks to the neighbor Boyer are a blast. Splendidly acted by the Fonda/Redford couple, it is ultimately a light and witty comedy with a Redford very much at ease in the role of the husband who endures the uncontainable character of the partner but at the same time is completely taken and in love with her; the parallel story of the mother-in-law (Mildred Natwick) with the Casanova Boyer is also entertaining and essential. A must-see.