What About Bob? (1991)

Sometimes you watch a movie as an adult that you enjoyed as a kid and realize the movie is actually dog shit. This is exactly the case here. A lot of comedies do not age well. This is one of them. What About Bob? is fucking horrible. Sorry, Bill.

In this early 90s comedy, Bill Murray plays hopeless psychiatric patient, Bob Wiley, who struggles with a plethora of unexplained phobias that include being really, really annoying. When he drives his current psychiatrist out of the profession, he's referred to Dr. Leo Marvin, a narcissist robot who just wrote a best-selling book. The wacky shenanigans begin when Dr. Marvin takes his family on vacation...and Bob goes, too...after committing some hardcore stalker moves.

Things really get "hilarious" when Dr. Marvin's family fall in love with Bob...even after Dr. Marvin tells them that Bob is a dangerous psychopath. They don't listen to him worth a damn. And there's absolutely nothing...nothing likable about Bob. He refuses to leave Dr. Marvin (who in on vacation, by the way) alone, spends the night at his house, wears his pajamas, uses his toothbrush, makes him look horrible on national television, and then bangs the doctor's sister. Ultimately, this all drives Dr. Marvin insane (oh, the irony).

This is by far my least favorite Bill Murray performance. I never like it when Murray plays the idiot (The Man Who Knew Too Little). It's so unnatural. He's much better as the sarcastic asshole (Scrooged, Groundhog Day, Ghostbusters). I thought he was fun and a harmless when I watched this as a child, but now, as an adult, I agree with Dr. Marvin. Bob is an uber-douche. Who the hell wants to be bothered on vacation or have some guy play fun uncle to your family and make you look like a schmuck?

The main problem with this movie is that neither main character is even remotely likable. Bob is an annoying, clingy psycho. Dr. Marvin is a self-centered doucher. Oh, and the jokes aren't funny either...which is a concern in a comedy. All the comedy relies on watching one guy being really annoyed by another guy who everyone else inexplicably loves for no reason. It doesn't really hold up for an hour and a half.

There's plenty that doesn't make sense either. Like why would Good Morning America interview Dr. Marvin on vacation? When Dr. Marvin decides to murder Bob (which I totally support), he decides shooting him with a bow and arrow wouldn't be painful enough, but he decides to blow him up with dynamite instead...which would be instantaneous and not painful in the slightest. Why is Dr. Marvin's wife so ugly? Couldn't they find a more attractive actress for that role?  Why would Dr. Marvin be cool with Bob, a grown man and a diagnosed psychopath, sleeping in the same room with his twelve-year old son? That's sick...

Anyways, I thought it was a funny movie, but it isn't...not anymore. What about Bob? He's annoying as fuck. That answers that question.

Why It's Awful:

It's not funny. Bob is annoying. Dr. Marvin is a jerk. The family is stupid. The wife is ugly. Nothing makes sense. And the eyebrows on the daughter are disturbing.

Best Quote:

Dr. Marvin: That patient, the one who called before, he committed suicide.
Fay Marvin: Oh, Leo, how horrible.
Dr. Marvin: Oh well. Let's not let it spoil our vacation.