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One doesn't necessarily approach a Bob Hope vehicle expecting the plot to be of primary importance (or even necessarily to make much sense), but if it was made before 1960, one does expect it to provide some good laughs -- something that They Got Me Covered unfortunately does not do. Much of the blame rests with the screenplay, which not only botches a good set-up with its harum-scarum plotting, but fails to provide Hope and the rest of the cast with anywhere near enough good lines. The screenplay does at least attempt to make up for this mess-up by including a number of sure-fire comic situations. Unfortunately, these somehow turn from sure-fire to misfire, even with Hope giving it his all. Director David Butler is also partly to blame, for the direction is not very surefooted, despite the fact that in other instances he has had no trouble pulling off this kind of comedy. However, it seems that the real problem is that it suffered from being Hope's first outing with producer Samuel Goldwyn; the film feels like the comic and the producer were trying to learn how to work with each and hadn't yet found a workable groove. In the end, Covered isn't a bad film -- it's just surprisingly dull.