I have not seen the remake, and refuse to. I don't think that the remake could quite capture the magic that Peter Falk and Alan Arkin provide. This movie is a political satire. It spoofs the whole spy business and Latin American dictators. Falk carries the film as a seemingly weird CIA agent. Arkin is a neurotic dentist unwittingly placed in the spy game by his seemingly crazy in-law. The movie has plenty of laughs, and can be seen repeated with the laughs still being funny. The plot is a bit winding and confusing, but it is a comedy after all. Basically, the movie is carried by two great personalities -Falk and Arkin.

Alan Arkin and Peter Falk made a great comic duo in this classic comedy. Each one bounces off the other in excellently timed humor.

The story is wild and off the wall. Peter Falk's secret agent guy is too, and he has you and co-star Alan Arkin guessing whether he is a legitimate government agent, or some kind of schizophrenic maniac. The two are the respective dads of two soon to be wed kids, and their shenanigans take precedence over their offspring and the upcoming nuptials. Arkin's straight-laced everyman who rapidly waxes panicky, then neurotic due to being suddenly cast in the bizarre world of Falk makes for brilliantly hilarious contrast between the two.

Needless to say, Falk is on a case and gets Arkin inexorably caught up in the situation, which soon degenerates into a wild romp with loud explosions, shootings, and other confusion. The "Serpentine!" routine is a classic of riotous buffoonery.

Falk and Arkin understand comedy, and manipulate it well. Their comic chemistry is worthy of comparison to some of the classic duos over the years, as they ping-pong the lunacy back and forth with expert timing and delivery. This original is far better than its recent remake, and is recommended.

Well, when you need a laugh - or many - there's nothing like The In-Laws from 1979.

Peter Falk and Alan Arkin star as Vince Ricardo and Sheldon Kornpett, whose children are marrying. Right after the men meet, Vince involves Sheldon in an operation (that may or may not be for the CIA) that has to do with master plates for U.S. currency. Sheldon winds up being shot at, riding the roof of a taxi, and traveling to another country in Central America, where he faces a firing squad.

Absolutely hilarious, with Falk and Arkin in fine form with Falk an absolute maniac and Arkin a New York dentist. Arkin's delayed responses to situations are priceless. As he is being chased in his car, he drives into a paint shop. The comes out in psychedelic colors. The painter tells him it's permanent, can't be painted over, and costs $30. Arkin hands him the money and asks him, quietly, if he has a phone. When the man asks him what he said, Arkin goes berserk, screaming 'A PHONE. I ASKED YOU IF YOU HAD A PHONE. '

Falk's opening monologue at the dinner table about the flies the size of eagles is not to be missed, nor is their meeting with a South American dictator who has a hand puppet.

The above situations mentioned are all funny, but just watch when the two men are being shot at and Falk keeps zig-zagging and yelling to Arkin, "SERPENTINE: 'SERPENTINE.'

A laugh riot.