Burglar (1987)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Better Late Then Never

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

I believe most of the people who claim they did not like this movie, were over thinking it. This is a funny, well done movie. It mixes a lot of great work, especially from "Bobcat", my favorite is his delivery in the Mayday bar, this movie is so 80's. Maybe it rubs some wrong, but if you were an adult in the late 1980's, this movie would be a real treat. Unfortunately many of the jokes are for Americans and our culture; I can understand it not working for other English speakers, such as Canadians, etc. A lot of slang, and *#@! ^& etc. I almost forgot the most offensive part of the movie for those politically correct tobacco Nazis. Almost everyone including Whoopi is shown smoking, and smoking and enjoying it!!! That's right kids it was a widely practiced social interaction between people especially the opposite sex. Just look at it as a time travel back to the 1980's, sex, drugs and rock and road were still alive and well, big hair, and all the rest. You either love it or hate it.

I recently saw this movie in a bargain bin at a store and became excited when I read the back cover. It appeared to have everything that I love in a film - comedy, action, Bob Goldthwait, and was made in my favorite era (the late 80's). I eagerly popped it in the DVD player when I got home and it starting off fairly promising with a suspenseful burglar scene and cool 80's soundtrack music. But then the plot just droops off into a depressingly boring cesspool of garbage. About 20 min into it you're left thinking "this isn't going to get any better is it?" The movie is hardly funny at all despite tricking you into thinking that with a large array of comedic actors in the cast. The film has more of a gritty cop drama type feel with a dark club-like nature. I like that, but this movie shouldn't be played out that way. So basically it's stuck in the middle without a genre. The main highlights of the film are its cool 80's pop/rock soundtrack, slight Miami Vice-like feel, and Bob Goldthwait in some scenes. Although, I'm a big fan of Goldthwait and this film doesn't showcase his hilariousness nearly as well as others. Whoopi Goldberg has a strange character that leaves you thinking "Huh?" in almost every scene. Her character isn't likable at all much less funny or anything else.

Another in a series of comic vehicles for Whoopi Goldberg in the late 80's, this one features a pretty well crafted mystery buried in amongst the comedy.Bernie Rhodenbarr (Whoopi Goldberg) is a cat burglar by trade. She would like to retire into respectability, but unfortunately, Ray Kirschman (G. W. Bailey), a retired police detective who once busted Rhodenbarr, is now blackmailing her into stealing for him. During one of her "jobs" for Kirschman, Bernie is surprised when Christopher Marshall (Stephen Shellen), the man she's stealing from, comes home unexpectedly. Bernie hides in the bedroom closet, but Marshall isn't alone, and when he and his companion decide to hit the sheets, Bernie is trapped there for the night. In the morning, Bernie overhears and argument between Marshall and someone who comes to see him. Then she hears the sounds of a struggle, and then silence. Eventually, she emerges from the closet to find Marshall dead on the floor with a rather strange looking object sticking out of his chest. She leaves, but is ultimately fingered as both a murder and robbery suspect. She spends the rest of the movie trying to clear herself with a little help from sidekick Carl Hefler (Bobcat Goldthwait), all the while eluding two bumbling detectives (John Goodman and Anne DeSalvo), and dealing with Marshall's widow (Leslie Ann Warren) and her attorney (James Handy). Will she find the truth, will Kirschman turn her in, or will the killer do her in? In spite of some occasional far fetched elements, this is actually a pretty well crafted mystery. Rhodenbarr is resourceful, and that resourcefulness not only helps to keep her out of jail as well as allowing her to figure out who really killed Marshall. The story is told in a comic way, but it is quite credible, nonetheless.The acting was quite enjoyable. Goldberg, of course, turns in a masterful performance. Warren's over the top hysterics work well with her character, and show just how much range she has. Goodman and DeSalvo are amusing as the bumbling detectives. Goldthwait and Bailey are rather annoying, as is par for the course with both of them, but they do manage to make their characters work. And Handy's performance is nicely layered between the public face as an upright lawyer, and the private face as a disturbed man capable of shocking violence.Yes, it's a silly movie, but if you look beneath the silliness, you may be surprised to find a well crafted whodunit. And either way, it's just an enjoyable movie.

I'm surprised the reviews for this movie are so negative. I found it to be very funny. Bob Goldthwait plays, well, himself in two scenes that literally had me on the floor.It may not be a masterpiece, but the characters are all played well and the storyline is serviceable. Goldberg carries the movie well enough and has good support from everyone else, but really, Goldthwait steals the movie with his scenes.There is a chase scene that's rather underwhelming, but after the chase scenes in the Matrix Reloaded and Terminator 3, almost everything is. Aside from that, the directing is solid.I enjoyed this movie and continue to enjoy with successive watchings. Keep an eye out in discount bins and you can score this movie for four bucks. I think it's worth it.