Strange Bedfellows

If you're looking for a funny romantic comedy where Rock Hudson lies to get a woman into bed, you've got plenty to choose from: Pillow Talk, Lover Come Back, A Very Special Favor, and as a last resort Strange Bedfellows. I love Gina Lollobrigida, and she gets to wear some pretty clothes in this movie, but it's not one I'd want to rent again.

Rock and Gina have a whirlwind romance and get married after spending a great weekend in bed. Come Monday morning, they discover they not only have nothing in common but their beliefs and opinions are polar opposites. Rock leaves during a fight and never comes back. Seven years later, neither one has gotten a divorce-for a reason never explained-and Rock is a successful businessman who needs to promote his family image in order to get a promotion. Gina is still an uncontrollable, protesting wild child, but rather than rent a respectable wife for the weekend his boss is in town, he attempts to tame her.

This movie has some funny moments, but the main story just isn't great. I wasn't rooting for the couple to fall back in love with each other. Rock is a pathological liar and a first-class jerk, and Gina's temper is childish. Why can't these people cut their losses and get divorced? If you love the two leads, you can give it a shot. There's a clever sequence at a funeral parlor run by Terry-Thomas, and a funny bed shortage when Gina invites all her friends over and Rock ends up in bed with her new boyfriend. Besides that, you're better off renting Come September.