What About Bob?

“I have problems,” Bill Murray tells psychiatrist Richard Dreyfuss on his first visit. In “What About Bob?” released in 1991, this meeting’s the start of a hilarious patient-doctor encounter – at least for Murray. For Dreyfuss, it’s the beginning of a nightmare.

“What About Bob?” is one funny session tied to feature-length breaking point. Essentially, Murray, who has many fears, harasses Dreyfuss from beginning to end. When the doctor leaves for a month’s vacation, the new patient can’t tolerate the separation. He follows Dreyfuss and family to New Hampshire and stays. When family members Julie Hagerty, Charlie Korsmo, and Kathryn Erbe take a liking to Murray, Dreyfuss realizes he’s stuck with this patient forever.

“What About Bob?” is help up entirely by Murray. However, he more than takes the weight. Desson Howe said in his review, “With his twisted lower lip, doleful eyes and trademark deadpan, he exudes an awkward -- and funny -- vulnerability.” He can’t tough anything without using a tissue. He’s scared his heart could stop beating. He thinks his bladder might explode at any moment. He fakes cardiac arrests, so that he won’t have any, and he’s always talking.

“There are two kinds of people in this world,” he tells Dreyfuss, explaining why he got divorced. “Those who like Neil Diamond and those who don’t.”

Howe mentioned, “Dreyfuss thinks he's got the upper hand on Murray when he checks him into a psychiatric ward. But the hospital director calls Dreyfuss back immediately. There's nothing wrong with Murray at all, she tells the flustered shrink. Dreyfuss peers through a window to see Murray keeping the entire staff in stitches.”

“Roses are red, violets are blue,” he’s saying. “I’m a schizophrenic, and so am I.”

Howe said, “Despite his workhorse efforts, Dreyfuss remains the fall guy, an eternally flabbergasted Inspector Clouseau to Murray's Pink Panther. Scriptwriters Alvin Sargent and Tom Schulman make him a one-dimensional, ambitious shrink.” He walks in front of a bust of Freud. He’s named his son after Freud, and he cares more about promoting his new book, “Baby Steps,” on an upcoming “Good Morning America” show than his family. Of course, he needs to be taught a lesson. It’s a good thing for the movie that Murray’s the teacher.

This is a funny movie that I think people can enjoy, especially with the camaraderie from Murray and Dreyfuss. However, I don’t know if this is a movie that people will be remembering after seeing or be rewatching it, which is a shame because this movie does have a possibility of being a good comedy people can remember. Still, if you can, watch the movie because this is a good one to check out. I enjoyed it and laughed, but I don’t know if I will be rewatching this.

Tomorrow I will be looking at the last “Roger Rabbit” short in “Disney Month 2025.”