‘What About Bob?’ Baby Steps to 30

May 17, 2021

On May 17th, 1991, the comedy classic What About Bob?, starring Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss, was released. Directed by the legendary Frank Oz (Little Shop of Horrors 1986, The Muppets Take Manhattan, the voice of YODA!), the film has gone down as one of the best Bill Murray-starring comedies. So, let’s take a look back at What About Bob?, 30 years later.

“I feel good, I feel great, I feel wonderful…” – Bob Wiley

We are introduced to the notable (and arrogant) psychiatrist Dr. Leo Marvin (Richard Dreyfuss) who is planning a month-long vacation with his family at Lake Winnipesaukee. Just before the vacation begins, Dr. Leo has a patient dumped on him by a colleague…who is suddenly leaving the practice for good. (Hm. Wonder why…) The new patient, Bob Wiley (Bill Murray), makes a same-day appointment and quickly latches on to Leo as his new therapeutic savior. However, after listing (and acting out) his many conditions and phobias, Bob is quickly distraught when he learns of Leo’s upcoming trip. With some plotting and scheming, persistent Bob not only finds a way to crash vacation, but also takeover Dr. Leo’s life, family, and sanity at the same time.

“Well, I get dizzy spells, nausea, cold sweats, hot sweats, fever blisters, difficulty breathing, difficulty swallowing, blurred vision, involuntary trembling, dead hands, numb lips, fingernail sensitivity, pelvic discomfort.” – Bob Wiley

Richard Dreyfuss is oh-so-good at playing a wealthy, egotistical snob in the best way, and What About Bob? is no exception. He ratchets up his performance from 0-60 in no time, going from a man who is in control of his life and career to one shoved into insanity. Bill Murray, who released Ghostbusters II and Scrooged just a couple of years before, hits an absolute comedic home run. Improvising lines, as he has in several films, Murray’s comedic timing and delivery is nothing short of brilliant.

Alongside Dreyfuss and Murray, the main cast is rounded out with Julie Hagerty as wife Fay Marvin, Kathryn Erbe as daughter Anna Marvin, and Charlie Korsmo as son Sigmund “Siggy” Marvin. Often acting as the calming force between husband-doctor and patient, Julie Hagerty was the perfect casting choice as Fay. Known previously for her role as Elaine Dickinson in Airplane! (1980) and Airplane II: The Sequel (1982), her almost naive, straight-faced reactions to both comedic actors strikes a great balance with their over-the-top performances.

“You think he’s gone? He’s not gone. That’s the whole point! He’s never gone!” -Dr. Leo Marvin

While the film’s focus is on the dysfunctional relationship between Dr. Leo and Bob, it seems things weren’t so different behind-the-scenes. Richard Dreyfuss has since reflected back on working with Bill Murray, which he called a “Terribly unpleasant experience.” He went into details during an interview with Yahoo! Entertainment, saying, “I didn’t talk about it for years. Bill just got drunk at dinner. He was an Irish drunken bully, is what he was. He came back from dinner [one night] and I said, ‘Read this [script tweak], I think it’s really funny.’ And he put his face next to me, nose-to-nose. And he screamed at the top of his lungs, ‘Everyone hates you! You are tolerated!’ There was no time to react, because he leaned back and he took a modern glass-blown ashtray. He threw it at my face from [only a couple feet away]. And it weighed about three quarters of a pound. And he missed me. He tried to hit me. I got up and left.” Yikes.

Regardless of the backstage chaos, What About Bob? was a box office success, bringing in $63.7 million on a $39 million budget. The film was #15 in 1991, and the highest-grossing live-action Disney film of the year. Most critics enjoyed the film, although Siskel gave it a thumbs down due to being “rather upset by the Dreyfuss character and his angry and arrogant behaviors.” Sorry to disagree Siskel, but that was the whole point.

“It reminds me of my favorite poem, which is, “Roses are red, violets are blue, I’m a schizophrenic… and so am I!” – Bob Wiley

Now, here’s some fun What About Bob? trivia:

Bob’s official diagnosis, per Dr. Leo Marvin, is “multi-phobic personality characterized by acute separation anxiety and extreme need for family connections.”
1991 was a big year for then 13-year-old Charlie Korsmo, who also starred in the Disney films Hook and The Doctor, which came in at #14 and #32 in the box office, respectively. Korsmo, who has since left acting, didn’t take another role until 1998’s Can’t Hardly Wait.
Anna goes sailing on George Stark’s boat, which is also the name of the main antagonist in Stephen King’s 1989 novel The Dark Half.
Woody Allen was originally tapped to play Dr. Leo Marvin, with Patrick Stewart also considered.
Robin Williams was initially attached to the film early on.
The lakeside house used during filming is located on Smith Mountain Lake in Moneta, Virginia. Despite the big explosion, which was actually a 3/4-sized model replica, the $1.4 mil, 1901 sq. ft. house is still standing, with some slight updates.

Hope you enjoyed reflecting back on What About Bob?! If you want to revisit the film, or watch for the first time, you can check it out on Hulu and Amazon Prime.