Cactus Flower | A Review

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Cactus Flower (1969) movie poster

 The Info      

  • TITLE | Cactus Flower
  • RELEASE | December 1969
  • DIRECTOR | Gene Saks
  • STARRING | Walter Matthau, Ingrid Bergman, Goldie Hawn
  • TAGLINE | "'Cactus Flower' Has Flower Power"
 The Breakdown 


Toni is a young woman in love with the much older Dr. Julian Winston.  He believes him to be married, but in fact the dentist just used marriage as an excuse to avoid commitment.  When Julian stands Toni up one evening, she sends him a goodbye letter and attempts to commit suicide but is saved by her next door neighbor Igor (a handsome man with an unfortunate name).  The next day, when Julian discovers the letter, he rushes over to her house to make sure she's okay and ends up proposing marriage while never revealing that he is in fact single.


Toni refuses to marry him until she's met his wife - enter Stephanie Dickinson, Dr. Julian's assistant.  She agrees to stand in as his wife and through a comedy of errors, befriends Toni and begins a journey of self discovery and letting her hair down.


Poor communication and screwball comedy moments lead to the coupling of Julian and Stephanie (much more age appropriate) and Toni and Igor.


 The Scorecard  


The Swoon Factor |


Emily's Thoughts - Little swoon.  Igor was a cute, but Goldie Hawn and Walter Matthau isn't really a coupling that made any sense.


The Feels Factor | 


Emily's Thoughts - Ingrid Bergman's character is usually portrayed as a stuffy, bun wearing cardigan, so it was a bit refreshing for the stereotype to fall under a different profession.  I really liked her vulnerability and willingness to step outside of her comfort zone.  She also had some pretty impressive dance moves.


The Skeez Factor | 


Emily's Thoughts - I had my doubts at the beginning with Dr. Julian Winston.  The ease at which he lies to Toni about his marital status feels a bit creepy and definitely came across as taking advantage of a young, naive woman.


The Re-Watchability Factor |


Emily's Thoughts - It's not one that I would add to my personal collection, but if I saw it playing on TV, I might stop to watch for a bit.  Toni is a bit of a ditz, but she's well meaning and adorable, and the hijinks they all get into, while ridiculous, was occasionally endearing.


Does this movie receive the Total Weirdos stamp of approval?








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