The dialogue was so incredibly heightened and only sometimes-stylized it was really off-putting for the first half hour or so. And the style of the film itself never really contextualized that, so it all seemed like a bizarre sort of mash-up of ideas... and John Ritter doing lazy slap-stick. I'm still trying to decide where the whole detective story angle really figures in, the heightened dialogue being rooted in that obviously, aside from merely a set-up for some screwball romantic comedy situations. Since like I said, the mash-up of genres never really takes off in any meaningful direction, and aesthetic of the film is mainly realistic, so all the pieces seem to just flounder around with little framework.
That said, I did manage to get into the swing of things by a certain part, the the movie does have its charms, including a few really effective sight gags. Also, major credits to DP Robby Muller, who I was surprised and extremely delighted to see pop up in the opening credits. God, what a talent. The way his camera captures NYC here is just blissful.
