Ruthless People
January 2nd 2009 22:00
Ruthless Comedy
Ruthless People was an 80s crack at a black-comedy film.
Although it lacks the wit of smarter black-comedies that came after, it does sport the charm of the decade in its own way and Danny Devito, Bette Midler, Judge Rhenihart and Helen Slater (with Bill Pullman on the side) manage to knock out a few laughs somewhere along the line.
There are several story arcs here, the most pivotal being Midler’s character defecting to her kidnappers and eventually helping them with their cause.
We had this old gem on tape back in the eighties and I’d all but forgotten about it until the other day.
I’m not sure how it faired at the box-office, but I know Mick Jagger’s theme tuned absolutely bombed.
Apparently Weird Al asked for permission to use it before it was even released – because they figured it would be smash. Well, it didn’t even crack the Top 40, and Weird Al’s version turned out to be his biggest ever flop.
Rheinhold and Slater are the perfect 80s couple and Danny Devito can pretend to cry when he’s actually laughing better than anyone in Hollywood.
This is the kind of movie that just reminds you of the 80s at every turn. Its dripping with the culture of the time. A classic in a loose sense of the word.
The funniest part of the film is a ludicrous mix up and miss communication with a video tape, but my personal favourite is when Judge tries his best to hard-sell a customer a set of Definator X-1 speakers. Priceless
"I've been kidnapped by K-Mart!"
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Comment by Waysouth
Romantic Writer
Given To Gaming
Waysouth
Spanish Honduras
As smart as your typical Sting movie too.
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