It has to be said that the piquant Stockard Channing deserves the top billing that she gets at the end of this comedy of kidnap and murder. For her own unforced clowning is a clear winner over the heavily stylised performances of her co-stars. Miss Channing plays a spirited heiress who runs away with a married rogue (Warren Beatty) and also becomes involved with his embezzling friend (Jack Nicholson). Once she has discovered that their interest in her is more pecuniary than romantic, the hapless pair start a series of bungled attempts to bump her off. The fun that follows really calls for the snappy treatment of Richard Lester or the biting wit of Billy Wilder. Mike Nichols, who made The Graduate, settles for a modern variant on the screwball comedy films of the Thirties.

©ipc tx. Film content from TVTimes