Modeled after 1963's It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Jerry Zucker's Rat Race lacks the irreverence of Zucker's 1980 hit Airplane! but has enough chuckles to make it an agreeable time-killer. Like Mad, Mad, Mad..., it employs a huge ensemble of comedy stalwarts, assembled by an eccentric hotelier (pearly-toothed John Cleese) to race from Las Vegas to New Mexico for a $2 million jackpot.
Blood Simple made it clear that the cinematically precocious Coen brothers (writer-director Joel and writer-producer Ethan) were gifted filmmakers to watch out for. But it was the outrageously farcical Raising Arizona that announced the Coens' darkly comedic audacity to the world. It wasn't widely seen when released in 1987, but its modest audience was vocally supportive, and this hyperactive comedy has since developed a large and loyal following. It's the story of "Ed" (for Edwina, played by Holly Hunter), a policewoman who falls in love with "Hi" (for H.I.
Private Benjamin's immovable object is pampered Judy Benjamin, a wedding night widow. The irresistible force is a three-year, expense-paid hitch in the U.S. Army. What's Judy doing in combat boots and fatigues? A recruiter seductively describes today's "new Army" and gullible Judy takes the bait. Goldie Hawn is a private first class in her Oscar-nominated role of Judy, a fish-out-of-water coming of age via the rigors of basic training and a European assignment.
Academy Award nominee Julia Roberts (Notting Hill, Runaway Bride) and Richard Gere (Runaway Bride) light up the screen in this irresistible comedy! When successful corporate mogul Edward Lewis (Gere) meets carefree Vivian Ward (Roberts), their two lives are worlds apart. But Vivian's energetic spirit challenges Edward's no-nonsense approach to life, and soon they are teaching each other - and falling in love! This timeless rags-to-riches romance captures hearts with its humor, passion and unforgettable fun!
Plaza Suite is a confection of three witty comedic tales, all starring one of America's finest comic actors, Walter Matthau. The scene is Suite 719 of New York City's Plaza Hotel. In the first vignette, Matthau's wife (Maureen Stapleton) discovers that he is fooling around with his secretary. In the next story, Matthau portrays a producer who calls an old flame for a rendezvous - but the lady has more on her mind than romance. In the final tale, Matthau and Lee Grant are frustrated parents of a bride-to-be who has locked herself in the bedroom - moments before the wedding!
Sharper and deeper than Robin Williams's previous road material, Live on Broadway is a mature comedian's view of all things to do with power, prejudice, and paranoia in the 21st century.
Mel Brooks's directorial debut remains both a career high point and a classic show business farce. Hinging on a crafty plot premise, which in turn unleashes a joyously insane onstage spoof, The Producers is powered by a clutch of over-the-top performances, capped by the odd couple pairing of the late Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, making his screen debut. Mostel is Max Bialystock, a gone-to-seed Broadway producer who spends his days wheedling checks from his "investors," elderly women for whom Bialystock is only too willing to provide company.
Ever spend eight hours in a "Productivity Bin"? Ever had worries about layoffs? Ever had the urge to demolish a temperamental printer or fax machine? Ever had to endure a smarmy, condescending boss? Then Office Space should hit pretty close to home for you. Peter (Ron Livingston) spends the day doing stupefyingly dull computer work in a cubicle. He goes home to an apartment sparsely furnished by IKEA and Target, then starts for a maddening commute to work again in the morning.
George Clooney comes into his own as a leading man in the role of inveterate bank robber Jack Foley. Incarcerated, he uses another inmate's prison break as a cover for his own escape. Waiting for him, according to plan, is his partner, Buddy (Ving Rhames). Also waiting for him, not according to plan, is federal agent Karen Sisco (the ravishing Jennifer Lopez). She finds herself disarmed in more ways than one when she is deposited in the getaway car's trunk with Jack.
Neal Page is an advertising executive who just wants to fly home to Chicago to spend Thanksgiving with his family. But all Neal Page gets is misery. Misery named Del Griffith - a loud mouthed, but nevertheless lovable, salesman who leads Neal on a cross-country, wild goose chase that keeps Neal from tasting his turkey. Steve Martin (Neal) and John Candy (Del) are absolutely wonderful as two guys with a knack for making the worst of a bad situation. If it's painful, funny, or just plain crazy, it happens to Neal and Del in Plaines, Trains And Automobiles.
