Foolin' Around is a 1980 American romantic comedy sports film directed by Richard T. Heffron and starring Gary Busey and Annette O'Toole. The film was shot on location in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota.[1] The theme music was performed by Seals and Crofts.

Foolin' Around
VHS cover
Directed byRichard T. Heffron
Written byMichael Kane
David Swift
Produced byArnold Kopelson
StarringGary Busey
Annette O'Toole
Eddie Albert
Tony Randall
Cloris Leachman
John Calvin
CinematographyPhilip H. Lathrop
Edited byPeter Zinner
Music byCharles Bernstein
Production
company
GCC Productions
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release date
  • October 17, 1980 (1980-10-17)
Running time
111 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$2 million

Plot

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College student Wes (Gary Busey), who comes from Oklahoma to a university in Minnesota, signs up to participate in a psychological experiment where he meets Susan (Annette O'Toole). The two are instantly attracted to each other. Besides the problem of their differing socioeconomic backgrounds, Susan is also engaged. However, Susan's grandfather recognizes her fiance's opportunism and when he sides with Wes, their relationship is given more of a chance, in spite of the concern Susan's mother has about social status.

Cast

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Production

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Susan's house, where Wes comes to play tennis and crashes her bridal shower, was the original Pillsbury family home, built in 1918 on Lake Minnetonka and called "Southways" because one must go "south a ways" to reach the estate. The address is 1400 Bracketts Point Road, Orono, Minnesota. It is a 32,461-square-foot home situated on 12.91 acres, with 1,700 feet of lakeshore, a cottage guest house, a greenhouse, 13 garages, an outdoor pool, a tennis court, and an attached tandem four-car garage. It was listed for $54 million, dropped to $24 million, and dropped again to $7.9 million, eventually sold for $11,327,239 in August 2018.[2] The mansion was demolished one day after new owners closed on the property.[citation needed]

Critical reception

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Janet Maslin of The New York Times gave the film a mixed review:[3]

Foolin' Around is an affable, meandering comedy with a nice cast and nowhere much to go... The rich-girl scenes are perked up considerably by Cloris Leachman, though... Richard T. Heffron's direction has a television blandness (most of his other work has been in television), but he keeps the story moving briskly even when it's familiar. The performances vary widely, from Tony Randall's peculiarly humorless turn as a diabolical and/or drunken butler, to Miss O'Toole's personable but innocuous heiress, to the rough-hewn, easygoing Mr. Busey and Eddie Albert, as a construction mogul who thinks Mr. Busey may grow up to be just like him. Mr. Calvin is also noteworthy, for making Whitley much less of a dope than stock characters like Whitley usually are.

References

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  1. ^ "Foolin' Around (1980) - Filming & production". IMDb. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
  2. ^ "Zillow". Zillow.com. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
  3. ^ Maslin, Janet (October 17, 1980). "Screen: 'Foolin' Around'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on June 18, 2024. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
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