Save your money for something good and enjoyable

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

I love many of Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy's films, especially ones they did together like "Adam's Rib" and "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner". I was eager to see another pairing of their's and happened to stumble upon this one. And I don't think I have been quite as disappointed in watching a movie in quite some time. The movie is definitely watchable, and a lot of that goes to Hepburn's performance alone, as well as some occasionally witty dialog, but overall it tries too hard to be a convincing story about romance, office politics, and things of the sort, and what you have in the end is very little laughs and more frustration than amusement. The movie seems more focused on the cutes between Hepburn and Tracy, but doesn't offer anything genuine, or genuinely funny in doing so. The story for a 1950's comedy could have been terrific if more humor and natural chemistry were evident between the stars. In their other outings Hepburn and Tracy seemed a lot more natural, here it seems like their chemistry is forced in hopes of making a good movie which turns out rather bland and mediocre. I have seen many worse films, but I expected a lot more amusement out of this. Rather than being entertained I kept scratching my head thinking "How could this have gone wrong?" Well somehow it did. I think the film would have been funnier if more was focused on the office politics, supporting characters and less on the forced romance. But since more was focused on the latter, the film was uneven and all opportunities for a bulls-eye in the end were missed for me. Watch the aforementioned Hepburn-Tracy flicks. They have more to offer in the way of entertainment.

The script is clever, not great, the plot is cute, but not amazing, and the ending is predictable - but I like it anyway, and I've seen it several times over my life. For one thing, I've always liked the rooftop scene, where Spencer Tracy gives Katherine Hepburn a little intelligence test, complete with tricky riddles and difficult recall problems, and she effortlessly nails it, much to his surprise. She works phones with three other women in a reference library, the sort that people called back in the day pre-Internet, pre-Google, with questions ranging from the simple to the obscure. He's the inventor of the EMERAC, a computer or "electronic brain" as they put it, which threatens to take their jobs. Naturally, there is a question of her abilities vs. the computer's. On that note, it's fun to see the massive size of this computer and how it works in the movie, which aside from being a little silly, reflects how they were viewed in 1957. Oh, if only they could have known just how much computers would evolve, and change the world.The movie is refined and any age could watch it, but it does bring a smile to see various inappropriate behavior in the office, culminating in a pretty raucous Christmas party. I have to say, it's also great to see three of the main actors at ages you don't see much in these types of roles – Tracy (57), Hepburn (50), and Joan Blondell (51), who I've also been enjoying lately in her pre-Code roles from the early 1930's. I wish there were more movies like this! All three actors are a joy to watch.

Two extremely strong personalities clash over the computerization of a TV network's research department.Let me get this out in the open right away: I typically dislike Katharine Hepburn. I do not like her voice or her overrated acting (her range is quite minimal). Aside from a handful of films, she is not deserving of the immortal status she has obtained. This film, however, ought to be on her list of great films. And yet, it seems to have been largely forgotten.Spencer Tracy really carries this film (he is a national treasure), and it has an interesting theme: man versus machine when it comes to useless knowledge. Who knew that fifty years later man and machine would square off on "Jeopardy!" to test this very thing?

First off, I'm updating my review based on the new Blu Ray edition of the film. Is it worth upgrading? A definite yes. It looks the best I've ever seen it. Beautiful colors, although I wish it had been just a little sharper. Great transfer.This is not the strongest, nor the weakest, of the Tracy-Hepburn films. In a few spots it suffers...seems to drag, but mostly it moves along fine. I was interested to note that the not very successful film (in terms of box office revenue), gets a decent 7+ rating here on IMDb. That is particularly interesting because is some ways the topic -- incoming technology -- seems a tad outdated now.Particularly fine moments in the film include Tracy and Hepburn in bathrobes after being caught in the rain...and then being caught by Hepburn's initial romantic interest (Gig Young). Watching Tracy here, it seemed as if he was enjoying this sequence very much At the end of this segment, watch for the apparently ad-libbed Spencer Tracy imitating a drunk Red Skelton! Tracy and Hepburn shine here...as they almost always did. Both with characters who seemed businesslike with love creeping up on them. Hepburn seems just right as the researcher whose personal life seems stalled out. Tracy seems just right in terms of personality for the slightly different kind of efficiency expert, but maybe a tad too old to be a computer expert? Joan Blondell steals a number of scenes...definitely one of her best appearances in film. Gig Young has a better role in this film than he did in similar roles where he is the runner-up romantic interest. Here he at least maintains his dignity and acted like a normal man, just on the wrong track for a successful romance. Dina Merrill may be the only other actor of note here, and she plays an assistant in the research office very pleasantly. Poor Neva Patterson seemed to have copyrighted the somewhat cold personality that we also saw in "An Affair To Remember". Tracy and/or Hepburn fans will want this on their DVD shelf, others will enjoy watching it at least once.