***POSSIBLE SPOILERS***
"Ruthless People" is wonderfully sardonic piece of work. This film not only suggests the world is filled with horndogs and idiots. It revels in the notion.
Everyone here is well cast, including Helen Slater, and how often can you say that? Danny DeVito cranks up his Napoleon-Complex malevolence several notches, Bette Midler snarls through her role like it's anger-release therapy, and everyone else chips exactly as needed.
When Bill Pullman drives up in a Gremlin and robs Judge Reinhold, who is in the middle of a ransom grab AND wearing a clown mask, I actually had to pause the tape and just laugh for ten solid minutes. That whole exchange is probably still in my top five comedy scenes of all time, and I haven't seen it in years.
I'd recommend this sharp, wicked comedy to anyone, especially those who believe people's actions are governed by lust and avarice. Almost every joke here works, but more than that, the film's entire attitude will make you laugh. Any movie that salutes people's obsession with crotches is OK with me.
"Ruthless People" is wonderfully sardonic piece of work. This film not only suggests the world is filled with horndogs and idiots. It revels in the notion.
Everyone here is well cast, including Helen Slater, and how often can you say that? Danny DeVito cranks up his Napoleon-Complex malevolence several notches, Bette Midler snarls through her role like it's anger-release therapy, and everyone else chips exactly as needed.
When Bill Pullman drives up in a Gremlin and robs Judge Reinhold, who is in the middle of a ransom grab AND wearing a clown mask, I actually had to pause the tape and just laugh for ten solid minutes. That whole exchange is probably still in my top five comedy scenes of all time, and I haven't seen it in years.
I'd recommend this sharp, wicked comedy to anyone, especially those who believe people's actions are governed by lust and avarice. Almost every joke here works, but more than that, the film's entire attitude will make you laugh. Any movie that salutes people's obsession with crotches is OK with me.