There are few people who know the comedy business better than Carl Reiner, with a career spanning from vaudeville to the Netflix era. While the majority of his most influential work was done for television, such as Your Show of Shows, Caesar’s Hour and the iconic The Dick Van Dyke Show, Reiner has put his unique mark on cinema as well, making terrific films such as The Jerk, All of Me and Oh, God! One of his earlier films and one I recently looked into is Where’s Poppa? This is a film that had a lot of potential, and had quite a concept, one that was not entirely groundbreaking, but rather quite unique considering its execution. It also has some shockingly avoidable shortcomings that prevented it from being a formative piece of comedic cinema. However, despite its tragic flaws, Where’s Poppa? is an entertaining, twisted and brilliant dark comedy that is not afraid to offend, and considering this film is nearing being half a century of existence, it is hardly expected that something so forward-thinking and, quite frankly, offensive, could exist. It is a film very much in the vein of what Reiner’s good friend and regular collaborator Mel Brooks was doing with The Producers, Blazing Saddles, and Young Frankenstein, with the only difference being that Brooks had an unhinged brilliance that allowed for flawless execution of his audacious ideas, something missing from Reiner’s work, and especially Where’s Poppa?, which strives to be something much more than it actually was.

Gordon Hocheiser (George Segal) is a sleazy and somewhat incompetent lawyer who is trying to keep his struggling practice away from failure. His situation at home is not much better, as he has a very unwelcome resident in his home that he simply cannot get rid of – his mother (Ruth Gordon), who only grows older and more senile by the hour. Her unpredictable, often chaotic antics result in each of her nurses having very short tenures under the Hocheisers’ employment, and Gordon is at his wit’s end, with his mother often sabotaging his every ambition. What prevents him from getting rid of her once and for all is the promise he made to his father on his deathbed, whereby he promised to take care of his mother and never dispose of her by putting her in a home. However, when the beautiful and endearing Louise Callan (Trish Van Devere) applies for the position as caretaker to the elderly woman and seems to be far more resilient and tolerant to her eccentricities, as well as responding favorably to the growing romance between her and her employer. Yet, “Momma” manages to come in the way of her son’s happiness and success once again, all the while frequently asking the infernal question: “where’s Poppa?”

There isn’t much to say about Where’s Poppa?, as it is an entertaining but almost wholly unremarkable film, but it does have some genuinely profound elements, such as the performances. George Segal, one of the more consistent character actors of his generation, is terrific as the hapless but apathetic Gordon, who does his best to succeed, but has to deal with external forces that threaten his ambitions. Segal is really very good here, and while his character is most certainly unlikable and irredeemable, he is still oddly charming, and despite his emotionless, often unsympathetic performance, the audience cannot help but hope for his character’s success. Trish Van Devere is wonderful too, and while her role is nothing more than just an upbeat, understanding love interest, she has terrific chemistry with Segal, and she gives a more developed performance than one would expect from such an archetypal character who is used more as a plot device than as a fully-formed individual. Van Devere has the unenviable, mammoth task of being the “straight-man” to the zany, eccentric antics of her co-stars, having to maintain the image of normalcy and control, and she does very well, even if her performance, as good as it is, really does not make as much of an impact as if her character had been made slightly more three-dimensional.

As intriguing as the storyline of this film seemed to me, there was only one reason why I sought out this film and was feverishly excited to watch it – Ruth Gordon. I find Ruth Gordon to be one of the most endearing actresses to ever work in film, and while her successes as an actress came relatively late in her career, she had some terrific work, much of it taking place in the last two decades of her storied and admirable life. Not only was she able to add emotional gravitas to an otherwise despicable villain in Rosemary’s Baby, which is still one of the most sinister performances in any horror film, she was the heart and soul of perhaps my favorite film of all time, Harold and Maude (a film that often competes with Mike Leigh’s astonishing Naked to emerge on top), a film that has gone on to be a cornerstone of comedy, being a twisted and hilarious subversion of cliches and tropes, with Gordon being the major factor behind the enduring success of Harold and Maude. Gordon committed to every performance she ever gave and was able to adapt her style to match the tone and atmosphere of everything she did – she was able to be terrifying in Rosemary’s Baby, sinister beyond compare in What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice?, hilarious and feisty in Harold and Maude and an absolute scene-stealer in Every Which Way But Loose. Her performance in Where’s Poppa? may not be particularly noteworthy, based entirely on the fact that she didn’t get the opportunity to do as much as she normally could (this film was released a year before her iconic performance as Maude), but she pulsates with quirky energy, and there is one scene in particular, whereby Gordon is serving dinner, that contains some of the most subtle and hilarious acting on behalf of Gordon, who was truly nothing short of a cinematic treasure, and someone whose endearing charms and brilliant talents are deserving of more acclaim, as she was most certainly one of the finest of her generation, and she manages to transform an otherwise under-developed character into something very special.

Here is my problem with Where’s Poppa? – its got an outrageous spirit in a toothless vessel. Reiner clearly intended to make something that pushes boundaries and offends nearly everybody, and there are moments of genuine shock, with this film going to some very strange places, bordering on the bleak – a character being forced to rape someone in a park, the main character’s quest to murder his mother, as well as various statements on race and homosexuality that were quite transgressive for the era in which this film was made. Yet, these concepts, which could have been explored further and given extensive attention were merely momentary lapses of genius, rather than being what this film was based on. This results in tonal inconsistency throughout the film, giving it a sense of not actually knowing exactly what it wants to be – an outrageous, offensive dark comedy, or a slightly uncomfortable but still very funny romantic comedy. Reiner was attempting to emulate his friend Mel Brooks throughout, and as I mentioned previously, it is almost entirely unsuccessful, because despite his attempt to work with more edgy material, the wholesome (but not conservative) nature of Reiner’s television comedy work is still looming over this film, and he fails to remove his more well-meaning talents in favour of a film that is honestly about despicable people doing terrible things. The way Reiner makes this film presents them as awful individuals who we are supposed to find endearing, even though there is nothing in this film to suggest that they are redeemable at all. Unfortunately, committed performances cannot compensate for under-developed storylines and characters that simply cannot function as either realistic individuals or horribly entertaining caricatures. They are stuck in an unfortunate limbo, and while I think Where’s Poppa? had a great story, it was let down by uncourageous execution.

Where’s Poppa? is exactly what it promises to be – an outrageously funny and unhinged comedy about a troubled mother-son relationship. It is perhaps not the finest hour for anyone involved in it, but it still features some amazing performances, mainly from the always terrific Ruth Gordon, who is worth the price of admission ten-fold. George Segal and Trish Van Devere turn in wonderful performances as well, and their chemistry is palpable. Where’s Poppa? struggles tonally, and it never reaches the potential it could have, mainly because Carl Reiner didn’t seem to be able to utilize this film’s dark subject matter to create a deliriously entertaining dark comedy, and rather settled for a slapstick comedy with bleak and shocking moments scattered throughout. Where’s Poppa? says some interesting things, and makes some profoundly important statements, but not very often nor very boldly, the result is a muddled and contrived, but still very funny and charming in a very rugged way. Where’s Poppa? is not a bad film by any means, but with a bit more care and a touch of relentless energy, it could have been a sheer comic masterpiece, but unfortunately has to settle for being an underseen but still very eccentric comedy about really awful people.