User reviews

Picture the scene... Eccentric Millionairess discovers she's dying, pays pretty young girl to use her body for her eternal soul, everything goes Pete Tong and her soul ends up in the body of a mild mannered lawyer. Hilarity ensues as the 2 dominant personalities control half of the body each.

This is a great movie, & was made when Steve Martin was still funny (remember "The Man with Two Brains"? In that sort of vein of comedy, not the abortive attempts of LA Story, Sgt Bilko, etc, etc, etc).

Great performances from Steve Martin, Lily Tomlinson is absolutely fantastic & Victoria Tennent as the pretty but evil conniving bitch is great fun to watch.

Not the best comedy of all time, but one of Steve Martin's best movies! Check it out just for the court room scene!!!

Put all thoughts of Sgt. Bilko and The Pink Panther out of your mind: let us remember Steve Martin when he was at the top of his game, an uproariously funny comic with his own special brand of zany physical humour. All Of Me, directed by Carl Reiner, sees Martin starring as Roger Cobb, a struggling lawyer who unwittingly becomes host to the spirit of recently deceased millionairess Edwina Cutwater (Lily Tomlin) after her plan to transmigrate her soul into the body of stableman's daughter Terry (Victoria Tennant) goes terribly wrong.

With Edwina controlling one half of Roger's body, the silver haired comedian is given ample opportunity to showcase his wacky style of comedy and does so with gusto; the result is a memorable central performance from Martin in a consistently funny film that also sees co-star Tomlin on fine form as the lonely rich woman who, in death, learns to enjoy life and who finally makes a friend.

Breezy direction from Reiner ensures a lively pace, the action accompanied by a suitably jazzy score, with comedy highlights including Roger visiting the men's room with a little help from Edwina (tap tap), a hilarious courtroom scene wherein Edwina takes control while Roger sleeps, and a wonderfully silly bedroom scene where Roger attempts to have sex with Terry while Edwina is taking a nap.

All of Me shares with a whole heap of wonderful screwball comedies an extremely straightforward method: Employ absolute reason in dealing with the ridiculous. Start with a wacky scenario, set up the rules, and adhere to them. The laughs occur when everyday human nature comes into quarrel with bizarre incidents. Carl Reiner has made a significant contribution to contemporary American comedy, both as a performer and director. Working exclusively in the genre of comedy, his films range from slapstick humor to sophisticated comic parodies of classical Hollywood genres. He chooses to bring other genres to his comedy rather than comedy to other genres.

The plot and its treatment may be light as a feather, but we can relate to virtually all of the intentions of the characters. There is, for instance, the millionaire bachelorette Lily Tomlin, who wants to live forever and thinks she has discovered a way to do that. There is the discontented lawyer Steve Martin, who is distractedly depressed with his work and will do anything to get a promotion, even indulge nut-case clients like Tomlin. There is the wicked Victoria Tennant, who plans to viciously swindle Tomlin, and there is the extraordinarily hilarious Prahka, who innocently expects to transmit Tomlin's soul into a brass pot, and the put it in Tennant's body. There is, nonetheless, a dreadful psychic blunder, and when Tomlin dies, she transmigrates instead into Martin's body.

The second the premise begins to fire off laughs is the second it's executed: the first time Martin has to contend with this foreign female being inside his brain. He keeps command of the left side of his body. She commands the right. They are struggling to cross the sidewalk together, each in their own way, and this sets up a frenzied tug-of-war only a razor-sharp physical comedian like Martin could pull off. Tomlin vanishes into Martin's body, but she does not vanish from the movie. Her reflection can be seen in mirrors, and there is some superb timing concerned with the way they play scenes with one another's mirror images. For another thing, there is a genuine feeling of her presence even when Martin is alone on the screen. And lighthearted as the movie may be, it scores a lot of points by speculating on the ways in which a man and a woman could learn to coexist thusly.

Frankly, even above Martin's masterful antics, my favorite might be Richard Libertini as the indecipherably Indian Prahka, who repeats words he doesn't understand in a tone of complete agreement. Yet, although All of Me is the last of the four Martin/Reiner collaborations, it gives Martin one of his all-time best screen opportunities to highlight his brilliant kind of physical slapstick. Watch Roger/Edwina have a go at walking down the street, or going to the bathroom, or making love with the surprisingly sexy Tennant. Each action is an awe-inspiring exhibition of fractured dexterity. Watch right-side Edwina assume responsibility in a courtroom, as left-side Roger falls asleep and the ever-so-feminine Edwina moves their body in a bizarrely macho swagger. The actor's challenge is hopelessly problematical---Steve Martin playing Lily Tomlin playing Roger Cobb---and superbly accomplished.

ALL OF ME (1984) *** Steve Martin, Lily Tomlin, Victoria Tennant, Madolyn Smith, Richard Libertini, Jason Bernard, Dana Elcar, Selma DIamond. Screwball comedy/fantasy that features Martin's true comic genius as a lawyer who becomes the host for a deceased client's spirit, sharing her persona with hilarious results. Martin's physical movements are a stitch and Tomlin is an able foil as the eccentric lost soul. Directed with flair by Carl Reiner.

I totally loved this movie, I wasn't too sure of it at first but it was much more than I expected in a move with Lily Tomlin and Steve Martin. I think that Lily and Steve work really well together, I just think that the humor that they give each other is great. I've loved Steve in Sgt. Bilko and both Father of the Brides and Lily does great in 9 to 5 and Big Business, but I really like them both together. Does anyone else that saw this movie think that the two should have done more work together? What do you all think about them?

"You mean, you'll put down your rock and I'll put down my sword, and we'll try to kill each other like civilized people?"

'All of Me' is a genuinely funny film, but it's Steve Martin who stands out with a Magnificent Performance. Martin, a genius, delivers one of his very best performances in here!

'All of Me' Synopsis: A dying millionaire has her soul transferred into a younger, willing woman. But something goes wrong, and she finds herself in her lawyer's body - together with the lawyer.

'All of Me' is genuinely funny & well-written. Like it's catchy story-line, this classic comedy is interesting & engaging. Screenplay by Phil Alden Robinson & Henry O, is quite funny. Carl Reiner's Direction is decent. Cinematography, Editing & Art Design, are functional.

Performance-Wise: Martin stands out, literally! He delivers such a Magnificent Performance! Lily Tomlin is wonderful & compliments Martin very well. Victoria Tennant is first-rate. Richard Libertini is fantastic. Madolyn Smith Osborne & Dana Elcar are good. Jason Bernard is passable.

On the whole, 'All of Me' is a winner.

I gave this "5" film a "6". I probably should have given it a "7". That one scene -- when Steve Martin is first hit on the head with the pot and then begins the wrestling match with his own body -- is worth the price of admission to this otherwise simply "good" comedy. As a comic routine, it ranks right up there with W.C. Fields playing pool or Charlie Chaplin giving the customer a shave.

Yesterday I watched this movie for the 5th or 6th time, now on DVD. Certainly it is one of the most delightful comedies of the 80's. Steve Martin is a lawyer by career and musician by hobby who shares the soul of a selfish millionaire (Lily Tomlin) during an unsuccessful transmigration to the body of the character of Victoria Tennant. The situations are so funny, the magnificent cast is so sharp (specially Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin), that the viewer will certainly love this movie. Please stay watching it until the end of the credits, when you will see Steve Martin falling down while dancing with Lily Tomlin. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Um Espírito Baixou em Mim" ("One Spirit Possessed Me")

All of Me is one of the better 80s comedies and Steve Martin is one of the better physical comedians in Hollywood. Ever

So Steve Martin is funny? Not in this film he isn't. Nobody is funny in this except the dog (the sole reason I gave this 5 stars instead of 3). It just lacks any kind of entertaining value, it is an utter cliché from the first opening sequence (great guitar solo Steve! I'm kidding...). It doesn't even seem to be making a joke about being a cliché, it is just awful. I fell asleep 3 (three) times trying to watch this film and in the end I just gave up because it was going nowhere fast. Avoid this hiccup in Steve Martin's career like the plague that it is. You get the impression that nobody knew what they were doing while making this as the direction doesn't seem to have any idea of where it is going or any sense of the viewer at all. It just bumbles along, minding its own business until it happens to stumble (umble umble) into a plot point. And WHAT A PLOT! This film should never have been made, it adds nothing to cinema history apart from a stain on the carpet.

"All of Me" does the impossible: it takes two great comic talents (Martin, Tomlin) and not only puts them in the same movie but in the same body!

To watch Martin twist, writhe and convulse as he has to house Tomlin's spirit in his body is hilarious enough but to see one start a sentence and another finish it or verbally spar against each other is a pure delight.

Though Tomlin has little to do, she is more of a verbal comedienne while Martin was always more physical and spastic. Their pairing is genius, as this movie proves time and again.

Funny as it is, you'll get caught up in the story, too. Everyone is treated as an individual and gets to contribute thoughts, personalities and at least one good line and/or scene. Libertini is especially funny as a Hindu mystic ("BIG DOPE!").

Catch "All of Me" as soon as possible. You'll love all of it.

Ten stars.

Most of the time it's not OK to like a Steve Martin movie, except for one of his early movies, of which this is one of those. However this movie really isn't as good as funny as people making it sound it is.

Basically, the movie was simply not funny enough. And it's not like my name is Grumpy. I chuckled only a couple of times but further more the movie only annoyed me with its stupid simple story and not really likable characters.

Not really Steve Martin's fault though that this movie doesn't work out as funny. He is really great as a half-man-half-woman, when a deceased woman possesses the right side of his body. He plays it convincing and funny and it's a pretty amazing job, the more you start thinking about it.

It also is not like I hated watching this movie, since it's basically a non-stop comedy that trows jokes at you, of which only a few are really effective.

I sort of hate this comedies with simple, stupid stories with no effort put into it. Most plot-lines also really don't get wrapped up properly. It also disturbed me how totally non-likable the characters were. Basically each character in this movie is a *beep* or a *beep*. How are you seriously supposed to care about them or what will ever happen to them. Especially Edwina Cutwater is not a character to love and so is also really the Steve Martin character, who cheats on his girlfriend, even after telling her he wants to marry her he still runs off with another dame.

Still worth watching on a rainy afternoon when you really have nothing else to do.

6/10

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A transcendental blunder forces a lawyer to share his body with the soul of a crotchety heiress. Carl Reiner's finest work as a director combined the finest performances of stars Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin. Martin is so good in the role that there are moments that we take him seriously as an actor. This is the kind of performance worthy of attention and for fans of Martin's genius, this is one for the books.

I am rather surprised that this one came out in 1984, I was thinking it was a 87 or 88 release. So a bit older than I was thinking. I thought this one was okay when I was a kid. It had its moments as it must have considering the two great comedic actors within it. Still, it was also a bit of a mess too, as there more than a couple of scenes of extreme awkwardness and the fact that Lily Tomlin is reduced to mainly a voice over with a few appearances in a mirror or two. The film is about a woman that is very sickly and she is very close to passing on. She has a plan though, as she is going to use a man of mysticism to transfer her soul into that of a healthy and sexy young lady so that she may live out her days happily and healthy for the first time ever. However, things do not go as planned as a small accident causes half her soul to be trapped within the body of an attorney played by Steve Martin. So you get a lot of scenes of him acting as if he is being controlled and at times as if he is female. It has some funny moments though and overall it is somewhat good, just not as good as one would expect when seeing both of this two comedy performers are within it.

Amusing Steve Martin romp from his early golden era (which stopped for me abruptly at the super-schmaltzy "Parenthood") which while it raises a lot of smiles and, yes, a few belly laughs, misses out on the hurt-your-sides invocations of "Roxanne" and especially "The Man With Two Brains" Here Steve surrenders himself to the most ludicrous plot since, well, "The Man With Two Brains" and has a ball particularly with the physical humour of the piece (I'm sure you can imagine). Perhaps the reason it doesn't quite match up to "Brains" is that the verbal humour is less dexterous, possibly attributable to the fact that Martin wasn't the writer of the piece. That said, there are funny scenes a plenty, particularly the courtroom scene where Edwina takes over and the first bedroom scene with Victoria Tennent (again where Edwina takes over!). Lily Tomlin, whilst less funny with the physical humour (not unnaturally given that most of her scenes are played reflected in mirrors of various shapes and sizes) is a fine comic foil for our hero, although you never really doubt that she has a heart of gold underneath her cold heart exterior. After literally, all the horse-play is over, they all end up happily ever after and he gets the girl, as so many of Martin's early comedies do, no doubt deliberately reminiscent of course of the early B & W comedies of Chaplin, Keaton etc. What a shame he got serious in his older age (c.f. Woody Allen). Give me obvious laugh-fests like this any day, especially thinking of some of the turkeys he's served up in the last few years...

Lightweight, enjoyable comedy, with first-rate performances by Martin and Tomlin. The supporting cast is adequate and there are some genuine (if scattered) laughs. However, the film is nothing more than a pleasant little diversion. Every time I watch it, the same thing bothers me: it looks very cheap and underproduced, with murky cinematography. It has an inexplicable TV-movie feel, which certainly doesn't do justice to the actors' terrific work.

I've seen this film time and time again... can never stop laughing. The plot does stretch it a bit but... who cares? 1 of the 3 best comedies I've seen in my life. If you enjoyed this film try 'Dirty Rotten Scoundrels' with Steve Martin and Michael Cain.

Be warned, if you don't have a sense of humour don't even think of watching this film, but, on the other hand you do there is nothing like watching Steve Martin in the court room taken over by the other half inside him {who happens to be a woman - Lilly Thomlin}. You'll keel over and, literally, cry from laughter. And if you'd like to pee yourself altogether the scene in the men's room when he's trying to take a leak, and he happens to be right handed, and his right side is the woman's side will, without a doubt, do the trick!

Long live slapstick humour. Steve Martin is a genius at making us laugh. A bit of a modern day Jerry Louis and then some.

Rich and dying Edwina Cutwater (Lily Tomlin) is arranging to have her soul transferred into the body of a young beautiful woman (Victoria Tennant) just after she dies. Instead it gets sent to the body of stuffy lawyer Roger Cobb (Steve Martin) and both of them fight to gain control.

This is not a great movie by any means. It's really not all that funny; it's flatly directed by Carl Reiner; Tennant is terrible at comedy; there's some highly unlikely situations (especially at the end) and I didn't buy what happened to the main villain at the climax for one second. Still, Martin and Tomlin make this worth seeing. Tomlin technically isn't in it that much. After she dies (early on in the film) you only see her as a reflection whenever Martin looks in a mirror or glass surface. It's a credit to her acting that you think of her even when she's not on screen. Martin had a VERY difficult role. He had to show male AND female characteristics in the same body at the same time. It's tricky but he manages to pull it off and he's actually pretty hysterical. Even people who hate this movie agree his performance is just incredible. There's a courtroom sequence at the end where he's just magnificent. The fact that he wasn't even nominated for an Academy Award for this is a crime (although he DID win a Golden Globe). Don't miss the dance sequence during the closing credits. So, all in all, the movie has some great moments but doesn't really pull together. Worth seeing for just Matin and Tomlin. I truthfully can only give this a 6.

All of Me is the story of a dying woman who wants to transfer her soul into the body of a younger, healthier woman. Instead, she is accidentally placed in the body of her lawyer, but only on the right side of his body. The two must struggle together to control his body, and they must work out their conflicts so they can place her in the right body.

While this movie has a funny concept, and certainly its funny moments, it's just not that great as a film. Steve Martin is always good in comedies, and he does his best in this, but the gags and the jokes just aren't that funny. I don't really think Lily Tomlin is that great of an actress either. I think with someone else in the role I may have enjoyed it more. The movie was also too short, and the story wasn't developed enough. What I'm saying is, it isn't properly paced.

There are a few funny and enjoyable moments that save this movie for me, but overall, it's not one of Steve Martin's best. See this only if you're a real fan of Martin and Tomlin.

All of Me is one of the funniest of the Steve Martin movies. He and Lily Tomlin are matched perfectly for the zany antics that occur in the quest for her spirit to be united with the body of Victoria Tennant. Watch for the opening scenes where Martin tries to control his side of his body as Tomlin controls the other side. The resulting attempts to walk will have you rolling in the aisles. The time that Martin and Tomlin share his body are filled with moments including her having to "tap tap" in the men's room and him wanting her to have erotic thoughts while he is about to have sex with Tennant. Of course her thinking of Clark Gable does nothing for him. The music and the sight gags are all great. A perfectly crafted film. You will not be disappointed. This movie is one of my all time favorite funny movies.

Steve Martin's best movie, in my opinion.

I would describe this as a supernatural screwball comedy. Some people pointed out the plot is ridiculous, and well, it's supposed to be. If you need something realistic, then this movie is not for you (neither is the entire sub genres this belongs in).

The plot is the following: A frustrated lawyer named Roger (Steve Martin) has an eccentric not-likable rich woman for a client named Edwina (Lily Tomlin) that has always been sick, and is now dying. Her plan is to make a healthy beautiful woman her heiress, and trans-mutate her soul to her body to finally have a life and be able to do the things she always wanted but couldn't do. Things don't work out as planned and she ends up sharing his body. Initially they hate each other but, forced to be in close proximity, they get to know the other better and star caring for one-another.

Steve Martin does not play Ewdina very convincingly in my opinion, he's very exaggerated and a bit extra flamboyant, but it's still very funny.

Steve Martin is lawyer Roger Cobb, hired by Edwina, a sickly rich woman, to change her will. The idea is that a mystic is supposed to be able to transfer human souls from one body to another, and the woman intends to have her soul transferred to a female stable hand who claims to be tired of life. The mystic is able to transfer Edwina's soul into a bowl, only for the bowl to hit Roger on the head so that Edwina and Roger end up with both their souls in Roger's body. And that is just the beginning of the complications of the story.

There are some very funny moments, such as Edwina trying to cope with being in a male body she only partly controls, and the stable hand not wanting to take in Edwina's soul after all. But this movie, while amusing, seems like it could and should have been funnier. Passable at best.