I remember viewing this movie as a kid when it first came out and thinking how hysterical it was. I recently had the opportunity to view it again (I am now the father of a 4 year-old) and I still find it amusing but in a more sinister way. The dark side of this 1980 movie..how well- intentioned but terribly misguided people can completely turn an individuals life upside-down with their lack of forethought is an interesting premonition to our paranoid and callous society of today.
I also recently (through a friend) met Alan Arkin and relayed to him this disturbing sense I had about the movie and its (although admittedly unintentional) parallel to our current society of wiretapping and "erring on the side of caution." His response, although not unexpected, was that the subject of government intruding on the lives of individuals has always been one to interest him in films. Improper Channels is certainly in that vein.
