Three on a Couch (1966) Reviews

• Three strikes and you're in

  Kakueke2001-12-15

  Dr. Acord (played by Janet Leigh), Christopher Pride's fiancee, is a psychiatrist with three attractive female patients who have problems with men, played out in extreme dependence on her. Chris (Jerry Lewis) wants to go on an extended vacation with her. To ease Dr. Acord's conscience in putting a hiatus on their frequent visits, he decides to be a beau to all three at once, with separate fake identities, to rectify their maladjustments. Lewis shows his varied talents for goofiness in playing three different types of people -- actually four, because in one case he also plays the sister, and in this dual role he is goofy at its most extreme, and very funny. The humor is cornball, but it is enjoyable. Jerry is a klutz -- not in a cheap slapstick way, but rather because he is a man out of place-- a zoologist, a rodeo star, and a fitness nut. But the ladies are each taken, and it is great. A nice syrupy ending too. "Three on a Couch" is a very enjoyable romantic comedy worth seeing.

• Three needing a couch

  martimus982009-03-16

  This movie is one that has both amused me and appalled me over the years. Jerry Lewis is an odd sort of comedic actor. When left to his own devices he can be downright annoying in his portrayals. Too bad this movie falls into that category. Jerry follows the stereotype he so loves as we see him often with cigarette in one hand and drink glass in the other. Lewis has potential to be great as a comedic actor but by acting as star (in multiple roles), director, and producer he's pretty much given himself carte blanche to do whatever he wants while in front of the camera. The premise of the movie is fairly typical for Jerry Lewis movies of the 60's. It does provide us an opportunity to watch Janet Leigh and Mary Ann Mobley which is always a pleasure. All in all it's a pretty silly movie that simply doesn't hit the mark.

• Did we all watch the same movie?!

  MartinHafer2008-09-28

  When I looked over the IMDb entry for THREE ON A COUCH, I was completely surprised by the overall rating of 6.1 as well as how positive the reviews were--especially when I saw someone who gave it a 10. Giving this movie a 10 is simply impossible to believe. While I don't fault anyone for liking this movie (though I truly hated it), a 10 implies perfection. And, considering that this is a comedy without a single laugh, a 10 just seems ludicrous and is perhaps evidence that the Jerry Lewis cult is alive and well. Don't believe the scores--this is a truly bad film and my 2 is actually rather generous! I am not the only one who hated it, as the film had an entry in the book "The Fifty Worst Movies of All Time" by Harry Medved. While perhaps he was overstating it to say it was among the 50 worst, it is bad....very, very bad. Now the first half hour of the film wasn't bad (which is how the movie manages to earn a 2)--though it looked nothing like a comedy. Jerry is an artist (though, oddly, we never see him paint or see any of his art even once during the film) and has received an award to paint an important mural in Paris. However, his fiancée (Janet Leigh) is nuts, as she won't go with him--saying that her job as a psychiatrist precludes having a life. She won't transfer three of her clients to another therapist and has an overly developed sense of responsibility towards them. So far, so good. It's an interesting idea for a drama, though there's nothing remotely comedic about this. Now Jerry and his friend (James Best) come up with a plan to "cure" Leigh's three patients. The three all have been hurt by men, so Jerry decides to pretend to be the perfect man for each of them--and hopefully getting each to come out of their shell--therefore allowing Leigh to let go of them and move to Paris with Jerry. An interesting though silly idea, it is handled with absolutely no subtlety or style. Instead, Jerry acts like an obnoxious moron--and in two of the cases, is so over the top and so irritating that you would assume the women are compete imbeciles to like him. The worst was his cowboy role. Practically every elementary school actor could be more convincing! To show that he's a real cowboy, Jerry moves a cigar around like he has the lit end in his mouth and mugs so much that it's downright nauseating. Additionally, the nerd he plays comes off more like a combination of Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams (I am not exaggerating). I mean no offense against Capote or Williams, but they were flamboyantly gay as was Jerry's nerd. That any woman would be taken in my his incredibly effeminate style is astounding. I also wonder if some viewers might be offended by how campy this portrayal was. The bottom line is that the film isn't funny, and considering it's supposed to be a comedy, that's an insurmountable obstacle. The fact is, Mr. Lewis can be funny but he can also be very, very unfunny. This film is easily the worst of his movies that I have seen (even worse than CRACKING UP--which gave me a migraine), though I have also heard that SLAPSTICK OF ANOTHER KIND is worse--I have yet to see it. Don't believe the cult-like devotion of some fans--this film is embarrassingly bad.

• Hilarious. but you may hate it!

  Dick-422000-07-15

  Inane, but not as much so as you expect from Lewis. Jerry even plays a reasonably intelligent and talented character in this one. Absolutely hilarious in many spots, even when gags are being milked. You miss stuff you can't see through the tears! A wonderful movie -- perhaps Jerry's very best!

• "My! Aren't you spreading yourself a bit thin?"

  moonspinner552011-09-05

  Jerry Lewis stars in and directed this inept farce about an American artist who wins a contest and hopes to spend the money traveling to Paris with his new bride, but she's a psychiatrist and can't leave behind her three most troubled patients ("I took an oath!"). The romantically-crestfallen ladies who are standing in the way are soon individually wooed by three bachelors, each of them the artist (now a con-artist) under an alias. This deception, of course, allows Jerry to half-heartedly dip into his standard bag of tricks and treat us to his funny voices and disguises (including one in drag). The camera-work is continually bad, with constant shots featuring the back of Lewis' head, and the script from Bob Ross and Samuel A. Taylor is flaccid and condescending (offensive to doctors, to commercial artists, but mostly to women). The 'mod' attributes in the costumes and art direction give the picture a jazzy look, but it's really just the same old stuff Jerry Lewis had been churning out for years by this point. *1/2 from ****