Chu Chu (Carol Burnett) is a third-rate dance instructress. The Philly Flash (Alan Arkin) is a former all-star pitcher who now inhabits San Francisco's skid row. Together they're meant to be one of those wonderfully wacky cinematic odd couples. They're more like a pair on an uncomfortable blind date. An unlikely subplot in which some top secret government papers fall into the hands of the title characters serves as the backdrop for the antics of Arkin and Burnett. But chemistry is everything in a film like this one, and synergy is one thing these two talented performers don't have. Burnett fares marginally better, instilling a hint of pathos in the down-and-out dancer. Arkin, though he seldom speaks below a shout and expends endless energy, might as well be playing to a lamppost for all the emotion he musters. While director David Lowell Rich, whose previous work includes such titles as Hey Boy! Hey Girl! and Have Rocket Will Travel, attempts to create a madcap atmosphere, the breakneck pace only accentuates the fact that this empty vehicle is going nowhere. (PG)
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