Ruthless People (1986)

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Too Many Cons

Sam Stone's (Danny Devito) wife Barbara (Bette Midler) is kidnapped, but he doesn't want her back; it saves him having to kill her. It'd be game over for the kidnappers (Judge Reinhold and Helen Slater) if not for Stone's mistress (Anita Morris) and her incompetent boyfriend Earl (Bill Pullman), perhaps the worst blackmailers on the face of the Earth.

Not one of the characters behaves as they should, and the result is a tremendously amusing farce. It's ably directed by Zucker, Zucker and Abrahams ([The Naked Gun][film:1521]), and bears all of their hallmarks, though it's thankfully understated by the standards of their other films. Bette Midler is a real highlight, but all of the performances are good, even white-bread Judge Reinhold.

It's not non-stop hilarity, but there's enough there for it to be worth checking out.

- Sam - 2006-11-19 00:35:12