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What About Bob? poster

What About Bob?

year 1991decade 90sdirector Frank Ozgenre Comedy

99 minutes

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Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Bill Murray Bob Wiley
Richard Dreyfuss Dr. Leo Marvin
Julie Hagerty Fay Marvin
Charlie Korsmo Sigmund "Siggy" Marvin
Kathryn Erbe Anna Marvin
Fran Brill Lily Marvin
Tom Aldredge Mr. Guttman
Susan Willis Mrs. Guttman
Doris Belack Dr. Catherine Tomsky

What About Bob? | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Sean Fennesseyhost Van Lathanproducer Craig Horlbeckproducer Craig
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Most Rewatchable Scene

The therapy meeting, diner call, sailing, puppets, diving, dinner, television interview, Leo’s expulsion of Bob, attempted explosion, and several Bob-Siggy exchanges are nominated; dinner and Leo’s “never gone” breakdown are final favorites.

In the discussion (15)
Approx. transcript time · 00:27:55Read transcript
  • The opening credits are praised for quickly establishing Bob’s instability but explicitly withheld as the final choice.
  • The opening therapy session quickly establishes Bob’s fears and the Neil Diamond marriage joke.
  • Leo’s face on the Baby Steps book cover makes his narcissism part of the therapy scene.
  • Bob waiting for Leo’s call at the diner introduces the Gutmans’ anger toward Leo.
  • Bob sailing is an early favorite despite questions about how readily Anna includes him.
  • Leo using puppets to order Anna away from Bob exposes his own instability.
  • Bob teaching Siggy to dive turns into a successful moment of encouragement.
  • Bob’s delighted groans over dinner and question about hand-shucked corn make the family meal a favorite.
  • The family gravitates toward Bob after he helps during Leo’s choking episode.
  • Bob interrupting the television interview and the Gutmans celebrating deepen Leo’s public humiliation.
  • Leo’s attempt to expel Bob culminates in the “never gone” breakdown.
  • Leo trying to blow up Bob only to destroy his own house is included in the final run of scenes.
  • Bob finding Leo by shouting his name in town is praised for its absurd efficiency.
  • Bob and Siggy’s bedtime conversation and Tourette’s exchange gain force on adult rewatch.
  • Dreyfuss’s “never gone” explosion and the dinner scene are the final personal favorites.

What’s Aged the Best?

Leo’s reaction to Bob’s reported suicide, the spoken title, the Wagoneer, Julie Haggerty, Leo’s clothes, the local shirt, family conferences, the psychiatry satire, Bob’s humanity, and compact movie-star comedy receive praise.

In the discussion (14)
Approx. transcript time · 00:37:05Read transcript
  • After hearing that his patient committed suicide, he calls it horrible and then says not to let it spoil the vacation.
  • The movie’s spoken “What about Bob?” title line remains a crowd-pleasing device.
  • Leo’s Wagoneer is praised as an important 1980s comedy vehicle.
  • Julie Haggerty is praised as a durable comic performer from Airplane! and Lost in America through Marriage Story.
  • The wife character is the family member who can tolerate and understand Leo.
  • Albert Brooks and Gary Marshall’s casino negotiation in Lost in America is recalled as a favorite scene.
  • Dreyfuss’s vacation clothes are praised as perfectly chosen for the character.
  • Bob’s local shirt remains memorable.
  • The family conference and puppets efficiently reveal that Leo’s home life is less controlled than he believes.
  • The movie satirizes a period of branded celebrity psychiatry built around slogans and gimmicks.
  • Bob connects with Leo’s children by listening and encouraging them, while Leo repeatedly fails to connect.
  • The discussion argues that the film targets Leo’s fame-hungry narcissism more specifically than all therapy.
  • Dreyfuss’s thighs and trimmed beard are nearly included as an Aged Best answer.
  • The panel misses compact high-concept American comedies built around major movie stars.

What’s Aged the Worst?

The panel tests the movie’s sympathy for Bob, Leo’s attempted murder, older comedy’s indifference to extreme violence, and its period skepticism toward psychiatry, while disagreeing over whether the target is therapists generally or celebrity hucksters.

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 00:45:20Read transcript
  • A modern reading can see Bob as a sociopath who invades Leo’s family and helps drive him into a yearlong collapse.
  • The movie goes off the rails when Leo tries to murder Bob.
  • The attempted murder is compared with older comedies that used kidnapping, threats, or mass violence as jokes.
  • Bob is described as trying to reach the next day, while Leo is more interested in figuring people out than helping them.
  • One reading says the movie treats psychiatrists as hucksters and punishes Leo for caring more about television fame than patients.
  • The counterargument is that the script respects therapy but mocks a specific fame-hungry practitioner.
  • The movie is placed in the period’s “from hell” lineage, where an unwanted person enters a transactional relationship and will not leave.

The Joey Pants “That Guy” Award

The observed “Catherine Irb” is disqualified for later television fame; the phone operators, the actor who played Tommy Carcetti, Tom Aldredge, and Charlie Korsmo are considered, with the unnamed Tommy Carcetti actor receiving the clearest win.

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 00:50:31Read transcript
  • The observed “Catherine Irb” is initially proposed before her long Criminal Intent run disqualifies her.
  • The telephone operators are considered but may be too brief to qualify.
  • The performer known as Tony Soprano’s sister is recognized and rejected as too well known.
  • The performer later known as Tommy Carcetti is the favored That Guy choice, but his name is not spoken in this transcript.
  • Tom Aldredge as Mr. Gutman is recognized from The Sopranos.
  • Charlie Korsmo is debated because his child-star run made his name familiar to movie fans.

The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

The famous Fresh Prince of Bel-Air father-departure scene is accused of copying a basically similar Growing Pains scene in which young Leo reaches an emotional place.

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:07:27Read transcript
  • A participant introduces this as one of his all-time hottest takes.
  • The famous Fresh Prince scene with Will Smith, the observed Ben Vareen, and Uncle Phil is said to echo a basically similar Growing Pains episode in which young Leo reaches an emotional place.

Apex Mountain

Charlie Korsmo’s acting career and “death therapy” receive strong cases; Good Morning America, Lake Winnipesaukee, and patient-therapist movies are debated, with Analyze This favored for the last.

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 01:08:21Read transcript
  • Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss receive explicit negative Apex verdicts.
  • Julie Haggerty also receives a negative Apex verdict.
  • Charlie Korsmo receives an acting-apex verdict even though his later academic career may be a larger achievement.
  • The movie’s “death therapy” concept is proposed as an apex.
  • Good Morning America receives a possible case based on the era’s cultural centrality of morning shows.
  • Lake Winnipesaukee is proposed but left unresolved.
  • Patient-therapist movies are compared, with Analyze This favored because it was a large hit and important to De Niro.
  • Bob being foisted onto Leo is proposed as a Foist Apex candidate.

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

A ten-episode Netflix version is rejected as too long for a one-joke engine; the earlier all-Black movie version remains the preferred remake path.

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:13:14Read transcript
  • The proposed ten-episode version would use Sterling K. Brown and Tracy Morgan from the recasting discussion.
  • The panel says the story is fundamentally a compact movie and would be difficult to sustain for ten episodes.
  • In Treatment is cited as a television structure that can track multiple patients rather than stretch one doctor-patient joke.

What Piece of Memorabilia Would You Want From This Movie?

Bob’s local shirt, Leo’s puppets, the Wagoneer, and the Lake Winnipesaukee house are the choices.

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:15:54Read transcript
  • The game-worn Bill Murray local shirt is one choice.
  • Leo’s therapy puppets are another choice.
  • The mentioned Waggonier is praised as a great car memorabilia choice.
  • The lake house is the final aspiration and strongest lifestyle choice.
  • The panel imagines a shared timeshare and participation in the town’s local culture.

Who Won the Movie?

All three participants choose Bill Murray.

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:18:51Read transcript
  • Bill Murray receives the first immediate winner choice.
  • Two further participants agree without qualification.
  • The performance is compared with a unanimous MVP season.
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