Ruthless People (1986)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker once again pull out all the stops with this multi-layered comedy featuring one absurd surprise after another. The general plot has two kidnappers (Judge Reinhold and Helen Slater) taking the wife of a mini-skirt spandex king for ransom. A greater motivation is behind the kidnapping: Slater was actually the one who came up with the mini-skirt spandex idea, but Danny Devito betrayed her with a crooked handshake! What Reinhold and Slater didn't anticipate was that Devito hates his wife (Bette Midler, in ferocious form), has a piece on the side (luscious red head Anita Morris), and had previously planned to have her abducted and killed himself! This has as good a comic cast as the 80s could provide: Slater is so adorable as the sweet wife who really was hesitant about the kidnap job, Reinhold's eyes are working overtime (this is a case where eyes produce some animated expressions, as Midler also bugs those bad boys in opportune moments) as are his funny reactions to one complex situation after another, Devito's facial expressions to the highs and lows that the plot provides are pure gold, the running gag of the police chief (William G Schilling) caught shagging a hooker (who agrees to make loud noises to arouse her client, ultimately sounding like she is being killed!) and Anita Morris (who keeps calling him, not realizing it was him in the car instead of Devito!) produces some uproarious dialogues, and Bill Pullman (his hair colored blood and costume imitating Sonny Crocket from Miami Vice!), as Morris' *other* lover, is as moronic as they come.How Midler bonds with Slater after the comment of weight loss (Midler spends her past time while in the basement, chained, working out to exercise videos!), Slater's talent at fashion designing (well, 80s fashion design), Reinhold's "bargaining down" the ransom price of Midler ("I've been kidnapped by K-mart!), the sex tape of the chief of police getting eyes from a number of television sets in an electronic store thanks to Pullman's miscalculation, Pullman believing Devito was killing a girl instead of the chief banging a call girl causing him to get queasy, Midler getting quite intense (her Rocky training, you could say) working out in the basement, Pullman's rather clueless attempt to steal from Reinhold (in clown mask) as the police tell him to stop, Devito's joy when it appears his wife is kidnapped and could be killed, Midler kicking Devito's ass while the cops walk away believing their marriage is on solid ground, and Reinhold's electronics salesman scenes (his dialogue about big speakers twice gets amusing results; one is equated to sexual compensation, another nearly lands an impressionable teenager with a pregnant girlfriend, overpriced speakers they certainly couldn't afford to be stuck with) all provide a wealth of inspired hilarity, spirited exchanges, and clever touches here and there. Ultimately, seeing Devito get his comeuppance makes for a satisfying finish. Midler is almost Devito's equal in terms of how the dialogue explodes off their face and rumbles volcanically from their voice. A strong 80s example of the right actors with the right kind of material at the right time. How the film inserts so many moving parts and yet ties them together where Devito is trapped in an ever-increasing bind is actually quite brilliant!

Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker started out making movies like "Airplane!". With "Ruthless People", they took the style epitomized by 1960s comedies - a scheme snowballs - and turned it into a satire on the nouveau riche. Upon learning that his wife has gotten kidnapped by a pair of designers angry about a stolen prototype, a clothing designer celebrates, hoping that he can run off with his mistress. And before too long, more and more people get pulled into the fiasco.Danny DeVito's character is the typical slimy businessman; he even buys a dog and names it Adolf! Bette Midler looks bizarre wearing a wig. I think that Helen Slater's character was my favorite, but Anita Morris's was also enigmatic. And then there's Bill Pullman (whom I never confused with Bill Paxton): he has bleached hair! It's not the funniest movie but I enjoyed it. It's got a lot of "oh no...oh yes" scenes. You'll like it and you'll like Midler's other 1986 movie poking fun at rich Angelenos: "Down and Out in Beverly Hills".PS: "Weird Al" Yankovic spoofed the theme song as "Toothless People".

It's a tight script for Touchstone, a comedy of errors where three plots and serial killer meet in a happy end. I saw this during its original release and loved it. I still love it. It's nice to see a movie without a lot of toilet humour and f-bombs. The dialog is filled with memorable lines but the humour is in knowing what the characters don't and the on screen charisma of Di Vito and Middler.Pay attention and you'll see the L.A. cityscape during the 80's along with all that was bad in 80's design along with Santa Monica Pier before the redesign in the 90's. Great film for a rain day or a bad mood.

Before a fortune seeker can carry out his plot to murder his wife, she is kidnapped, leading to hilarious complications. The cast is terrific: Reinhold and Slater as the likable kidnappers, DeVito as the scoundrel of a husband refusing to pay the ransom, Morris as DeVito's double-crossing mistress, and Pullman as the latter's dim-witted boyfriend, "the stupidest person on the face of the earth." However, Midler steals the film as the obnoxious kidnap victim. The "Airplane!" team of Abrahams and Zuckers is in peak form, working with a more clever script than for that earlier hit. It's a breezy mixture of verbal and physical comedy.