There are far too many mini-subplots that come out of this nearly perfect black comedy from the minds of "Airplane!" creators Zucker and Abrams that could have been flawless had they tried a little more to remove those teeny distractions. I don't care how ruthless all these characters are. The more ruthless they are, the funnier they are, especially Danny DeVito as the husband of heiress Bette Midler who is kidnapped by Huey, Dewey and K-Mart (Judge Reinhold and Helen Shaver) who are bunglers in every way, but not as bumbling as Bill Pullman whom the police refer to as the stupidest man who ever lived.
He's the boyfriend of DeVito's mistress (scene stealing Anita Morris), filming the wrong person whom he thinks is DeVito committing a crime. Then there's the mini-subplot of a serial killer on the loose. All very convenient plot wise but rather distracting as you're trying to put the pieces of everything else going on together. Reinhold and Shaver are shafted surrounded by DeVito, Midler and Morris, but Reinhold does have a funny moment when he oversells his job as a electronic salesman. Midler by this time was the number one box office comic in the world so she gets special billing. Nobody else but her could have essayed that part which shows her being quite nasty, but in the end, her character is by far the most generous. A great script and smooth direction, but I still would have tightened it up by deleting two smaller plot devices and given more meat and potatoes to Bette and Danny, maybe showing them dealing with their marriage before the kidnapping.
He's the boyfriend of DeVito's mistress (scene stealing Anita Morris), filming the wrong person whom he thinks is DeVito committing a crime. Then there's the mini-subplot of a serial killer on the loose. All very convenient plot wise but rather distracting as you're trying to put the pieces of everything else going on together. Reinhold and Shaver are shafted surrounded by DeVito, Midler and Morris, but Reinhold does have a funny moment when he oversells his job as a electronic salesman. Midler by this time was the number one box office comic in the world so she gets special billing. Nobody else but her could have essayed that part which shows her being quite nasty, but in the end, her character is by far the most generous. A great script and smooth direction, but I still would have tightened it up by deleting two smaller plot devices and given more meat and potatoes to Bette and Danny, maybe showing them dealing with their marriage before the kidnapping.