- Whatever its flaws, it must be noted that The In-Laws gets a lot of mileage out of two incredibly talented character actors. As Vincent Ricardo, Peter Falk plays his usual character, constantly bumbling and stumbling in and out of traps, shootouts, and even firing squads. As Sheldon Kornpett, Alan Arkin is the straight man, a prominent dentist whose austerity forms a striking contrast with Ricardo's haphazard methods. The event that brings these two men together is the impending marriage of their two children (Penny Peyser and Michael Lembeck), but they only really have a chance to bond when Ricardo involves Kornpett in a dangerous counterfeiting operation. Problem is, it's not terribly clear whether Ricardo is the criminal he seems to be or the secret CIA agent he keeps telling everyone about.
- While it is always a pleasure to watch Peter Falk and Alan Arkin at work, the remainder of The In-Laws is rather unremarkable. There are a few funny moments, inevitably involving Falk describing his oddball techniques to an incredulous Arkin, but one gets the distinct impression that this film emerged entirely from a pitch to "imagine a father-in-law who is really James Bond." Fortunately, the immensely talented cast, including minor parts for James Hong , Ed Begley Jr. and Richard Libertini, makes the experience always tolerable, even if it doesn't quite add up to a good episode of Columbo.
- Not sure, but I think most of the Chinese is completely fake. Especially the Mae West joke.
