A LOTUS GROWS IN THE MUD:
Footprints of a Spiritual Life
Goldie Hawn
G.P. Putnam's Sons (2005)

ACTRESS Goldie Hawn will be coming out with her celebrity memoir, A Lotus Grows in the Mud, in 2005. When we think of comedy, how can we forget the kookie Goldie Hawn. And when we think of comedy, how can we forget her star turn in Collin Higgins's Foul Play back in 1978.

Comedy and suspense don't usually go hand in hand but Higgins's endeavour at intermingling them in Foul Play works wonderfully. In this madcap caper, he employs a spate of offbeat comics, including the wide-eyed Goldie Hawn, the klutzy Chevy Chase and the unforgettable Dudley Moore and Burgess Meredith, to tickle you pink and ache your sides.

The storyline revolves around a distressed damsel who lands in a predicament with countless homicidal attempts to terminate her dear life but somehow manages to emerge unscathed every time without fail. There are the usual trimmings and complications to enhance the simple storyline. Higgins has intrepidly effectuated an appetisingly elegant synthesis of light-hearted comedy bordering on slapstick, contrived to ease frayed nerves and sidetrack ennui and lethargy. Foul Play is also appetisingly packed with lots of brisk, frenetic and non-stop action and the killings are executed in an extremely interesting manner.