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Ruthless People (1986)
Rate:
5
Viewed:
6/25
6/25:
People forget that once upon a time Ruthless People finished in the top ten at the box office during 1986.
It's been decades since I last saw the film, and I wondered how it would hold up today. One thing is for sure:
the story is clever. However, it's never laugh-out funny as hoped for. There's no way a modern writer (Dale
Launer) would've come up with it. In fact, O. Henry wrote the short story called "The Ransom of Red Chief" in
1907. That's the biggest asset of the film.
It's also possible Dale Launer was familiar with an adaptation from many mediums, most likely the British picture
Too Many Crooks, and decided to do something with it. And I just thought so, he also did the same for
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels which is a straight up rip-off of
Bedtime Story.
The other valuable asset is Danny DeVito. He brings Louie's persona of Taxi to the table and is effective
playing an incorrigible character named Sam. As a result, most of the film's humor comes from him. I was on Sam's
side when his wife turned out to be Bette Midler whom I absolutely hate. The evidence is all there on screen by the
way she acts. To counteract her are the decent performances by the supporting cast, most especially Anita Morris
and Bill Pullman who makes his screen debut.
Another downer of Ruthless People is how badly it has aged for an 80's picture with ugly furniture and
clothes. This is where strong cinematography could've done the film huge favors. That and had it been much
funnier, I would've raised my rating. By the way, whatever happened to the police chief and Carol Dodsworth?
Now, that's good opportunity to have lines at the end to reveal the fate of everybody involved.
All in all, Ruthless People feels like a one-time viewing, and it can go either way.