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All of Me (1984)
In director Carl Reiner's clever role-reversal fantasy
comedy with gender-switching (body and spirit transference) and
physical slapstick comedy - it was his fourth film in collaboration
with Steve Martin, following The Jerk (1979), Dead Men Don't
Wear Plaid (1982), and The Man With Two Brains (1983):
- the gender-switching was performed by its comedy
stars Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin; they played two parts or personalities
of the same person (a left male side and right female side)
- one of the personalities was unhappy 38 year-old
Los Angeles lawyer and aspiring jazz band guitarist-musician Roger
Cobb (Steve Martin), who was dating his attorney-boss Burton Schuyler's
(Dana Elcar) daughter Peggy (Madolyn Smith); he was upset that
she brought him an African grave post for a birthday gift, and
stated that he couldn't commit to marriage (the "M" word)
- Roger's boss represented wealthy, selfish, terminally-ill
and dying, bedridden invalid client/spinster Edwina Cutwater (Lily
Tomlin)
- during a meeting with Edwina to take charge of her
affairs after her imminent death, Roger learned that Edwina was
planning to return from the dead; with Roger, Edwina designated
in her amended will that after dying, all of her $20 million dollar
inheritance would go to her stableman Fred's (Eric Christmas) beautiful
daughter Terry Hoskins (Victoria Tennant)
Dying Millionairess Spinster/Client Edwina Cutwater
(Lily Tomlin)
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Stableman Fred's (Eric Christmas) Daughter Terry
Hoskins (Victoria Tennant)
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- Edwina had made a deal with Terry that her soul
would 'transmigrate' or be relocated and enter into Terry's body,
while Terry's soul would be released to the universe; Terry claimed
that she was uninterested in Edwina's fortune
- unexpectedly during the soul transfer procedure
while Edwina was at the law firm, the millionairess' soul transmigrated
into Roger's body through the misguided efforts of her befuddled,
incomprehensible but beatific Tibetan shaman/mystic and spiritual
advisor Prahka Lasa (Richard Libertini); the sacred bowl where
Edwina's soul was temporarily relocated accidentally tumbled out
of the window onto Roger’s head as he departed from the building;
he asked himself: "What the hell is happening to me?";
afterwards, Edwina could only be seen in mirrors or other reflections;
Roger asked when he viewed her in a rear-view mirror ("What
the hell are you doing in there?")
- in a number of hilarious scenes, Roger (on the left
side) fought with his female 'Edwina' half (on the right side)
whenever he did anything (such as drive, walk down the street,
or make love); they had a tug-of-war as they attempted to walk
down the street together ("First me, then you, me, you, me,
you...")
- in a bathroom scene shortly later, Roger entered
and proceeded to the urinal, where he tried to teach his half-female
body what to do (Edwina was instructed to remove his "little
fireman" or "Mr. Ed" and "tap" twice afterwards);
Roger was overheard speaking strangely as if he was possessed by
an invisible spirit by Burton's partner Mr. Mifflin (Michael Ensign)
- during a misunderstanding and believing that Roger
was cheating and having sex with "Edwina" in his office
- due to hearing their constant bickering and talking, Peggy confronted
Roger; she was even led to believe that Roger had sex with the
"dead" Edwina who died that day; she was also incensed
that Roger was involved in her family's divorce court proceedings
and represented the side against her own mother; she gave Roger an
ultimatum ("It's either me or your balls, Roger") and he
chose his manhood; when she departed, she claimed that all of her
orgasms were faked
- after attending Edwina's memorial service (with
no one in attendance), Terry made romantic overtures toward Roger,
but as they were about to make lustful and passionate love in his
apartment, Edwina awakened and disrupted their love-making by asking: "What
are you doing to her?" but then assisted in some mild S&M
spanking; Terry fled from Roger's apartment when she realized he
was possessed by Mrs. Cutwater
- in the courtroom scene when Roger served as his
boss' divorce lawyer, during the proceedings, Edwina eventually
took control of Roger and won the case for the wife - while representing
the husband/boss!; she was able to use her advantage of overhearing
Roger’s thoughts and consciousness; as a result, Roger lost
his job
- Terry who had earlier promised to allow Edwina
to "transmigrate" into her own vacated body, had only
wanted to acquire Edwina's inheritance; she was now shocked that
the soul transference actually worked; she reneged on the plan
and announced her intentions to spend Edwina's $20 million inheritance
while moving into Edwina's mansion
- Roger attempted to aid Edwina by having the Tibetan
shaman Prahka transmigrate Edwina's soul out of him and back into
a sacred bowl; however, the soul was misdirected into a bucket,
then into a pitcher of water, and finally into the body of his
blind band mate Tyrone Wattell (Jason Bernard) who mistakenly drank
the water; the guru Prahka finally transferred Edwina's soul back
into Roger's body
- as the film concluded, Terry (to avoid criminal
charges) allowed the mystic Prahka to transmigrate Terry’s
soul into the body of her favorite horse, while Edwina’s
soul was transferred into Terry’s vacated body
- during a mirror dance in the closing end credits,
it appeared that Roger was joyously dancing with Terry after making
love to her (and experiencing "tingles"): Roger instructed
her: "Oh, it's easy. Now, just put your feet on top of mine.
Come on. This is how kids learn how to dance. See? Now try it with
your own feet"
- the two of them danced together in a mirror's reflection
to the tune of the crazy and crowd-pleasing song-and-dance number "All
of Me"; but when the camera panned to the left over to a mirror's
reflection, it revealed that he was actually dancing with Edwina
- the end credits began to roll, and culminated with them toppling
over each other
- All of me, why not take all of me?
Can't you see I'm no good without you?
Take my lips, I want to lose 'em
Take my arms, I'll never use them
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Dissatisfied 38 Year-Old Lawyer Roger Cobb (Steve Martin)
Roger's Girlfriend Peggy (Madolyn Smith)
Mystic Prahka Lasa With Terry Hoskins
Metal Sacred Bowl
Botched Transmigration - Edwina's Soul Ended Up In Roger's Body
- Edwina Seen in Rear-View Mirror
Roger Struggling to Walk Down the Street with Edwina
Bathroom Urinal Scene
Edwina Helping and Interrupting Love Scene Between Terry
and Roger
Ceremony to Transmigrate Terry's Soul Into Her Horse, and Transfer Edwina into
Her Empty Body
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