...In fact if you were making a comedy today spoofing the 80s, like The Wedding Singer did, watching this film would point you in the right direction.
This is an unapologetic black comedy with a deep, black heart but it is also laugh-out-loud funny. Ruthless businessman Danny DeVito plans to kill off his nagging unattractive wife Bette Midler so he can get total control of her money and run off with his mistress Anita Morris. Enter an inept couple of kidnappers (Judge Reinhold and Helen Slater) who seek revenge on DeVito because he stole Slater's idea for spandex mini-skirts. They kidnap Midler and stow her in the cellar while they try to collect a ransom. They don't understand that the ransom call they make to DeVito with specific instructions that must be followed exactly or Midler will be killed is the best news DeVito has ever had.
There are many twists and turns in this comedy that echoes O Henry's "Ransom of Red Chief" and the 1959 British film Too Many Crooks. DeVito, Midler, and Reinhold are in top form here and Morris is a delicious doxy with a guy on the side (Bill Pullman in his film debut). Pullman is playing a guy who Morris is obviously not seeing because of his intellectual prowess. With a great 80s soundtrack and LA landmark "Church of the Open Door" showing up prominently at points.
This is an unapologetic black comedy with a deep, black heart but it is also laugh-out-loud funny. Ruthless businessman Danny DeVito plans to kill off his nagging unattractive wife Bette Midler so he can get total control of her money and run off with his mistress Anita Morris. Enter an inept couple of kidnappers (Judge Reinhold and Helen Slater) who seek revenge on DeVito because he stole Slater's idea for spandex mini-skirts. They kidnap Midler and stow her in the cellar while they try to collect a ransom. They don't understand that the ransom call they make to DeVito with specific instructions that must be followed exactly or Midler will be killed is the best news DeVito has ever had.
There are many twists and turns in this comedy that echoes O Henry's "Ransom of Red Chief" and the 1959 British film Too Many Crooks. DeVito, Midler, and Reinhold are in top form here and Morris is a delicious doxy with a guy on the side (Bill Pullman in his film debut). Pullman is playing a guy who Morris is obviously not seeing because of his intellectual prowess. With a great 80s soundtrack and LA landmark "Church of the Open Door" showing up prominently at points.