The Money Pit (1986)

The greatest movie ever!

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

There is definitely an excellent idea hidden in the background of the film. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find it.

I saw this opening night with a couple of friends, and I really didn't care much for it. The timing is just off on all the gags, and the dialogue really doesn't have a whole lot of punch to it.There's a lot of salesmanship in terms of the directing and acting, but there's little in the way of comic genius here. It reminds me of some of the old comedies in the 1960s where things were done with a kind of light heartedness but there were no jokes as such, just things framed as jokes in hopes that it would tickle the audiences' funny bone.And that's about all you can say about this film some thirty years after the fact. I like Hanks and Long as actors, and even the rest of the cast do their best, but comedy really takes a certain kind of genius, and this thing just doesn't have that.There's not much more to add here other than if you're looking for comedy, then check something else out. As per my previous reviews about comedies in the 1980s, something sociologically went extremely wrong in that decade when it came to making feature comedies for the commercial film market, and this film is a fit example of that.Watch at your own risk.

This is the epitome of a 1980's popcorn film, the type of date film that appealed to both men and women (of all age) in pre-politically correct America. Filled with a ton of Three Stooges style farce, it is as filled with "Uh oh!" moments as the Mich later released "Home Alone" movies. Unhappilly divorced Shelley Long is loving in her ex-husband's house with boyfriend Tom Hanks when the temperamental former husband returns, putting the two of them out on the street. The couple decides to buy the beautiful but cheap mansion from wacky Maureen Stapleton which turns out to be a HUGE mistake. Falling front doors, collapsing curved stairways, faulty electricity and disgusting plumbing are just a few of the problems. Over-charging carpenters and plumbers, temperamental permit inspectors and the horny ex become a few more issues. Hanks finds himself battling the electricity (which results in a flying cooked turkey shooting out of the stove as a Julia Child program airs in the background, collapsing scaffolding and most hysterically, a carpeting with Hanks inside that slowly sinks through the floor are among the comic highlights.An abundance of over-the-top obnoxious characters make this at times difficult to take, but there were so many moments that had me laughing hysterically that I was able to forgive the dis-likable elements of the script. I would have liked to have seen more of the always lovable Stapleton as well as soap favorite Douglas Watson ("Another World"), seen in a prologue as Hank's father (getting married in Rio) which seems to be instantly forgotten. Alexander Houdenov, as Long's ex, is beyond despicable, and each scene he has makes me cringe. So don't expect a "Mr. Blandings", " The Egg and I" or even "Green Acres", but an occasionally pleasing comedy of moments, if not manners.

This film tells the story of a young couple and a house. Walter is a failed showbiz agent who kills himself to work and pay the debts left by his father, who fled with the money of brokered artists. Anna is violinist and member of the orchestra directed by her ex- husband, Max, a conductor with a blonde hair only smaller than your ego. Forced to move from the apartment where they live and faced with the real estate jungle of Manhattan, they end up buying a small mansion in a deal that seems like a dream come true... a dream that will crumbling slowly, as the weaknesses of the old house are becoming evident, for madness of the two lovebirds and delight of the audience.Walter is represented by a young Tom Hanks, in a stage of his career where he made several comedies. Despite the youth, we can recognize many of the characteristics of this actor which we can see, more developed, in films of his maturity. Anna is embodied by Shelley Long, a actress particularly skilled in comedies. Joe Mantegna also has a role as Art Shirk, a quite wealthy plumber. The film was directed by David Giler and Steven Spielberg, and is the beginning of a good collaboration between Spielberg and Hanks, who will result, in the future, in some successes like "Saving Private Ryan". The jokes of context and situation prevails, as well as the hilarious grimacing of the two main actors and a fabulous (and famous) Hanks laugh, well-remembered by those who like this film. In the midst of so many good points, just one less good note: I believe the script superficially explores the comic opportunities brought about by love triangle Walter-Anna-Maestro, introducing elements of conflict very late and giving them lightly solutions at the end of the film.In the beginning, this comedy doesn't seem to have anything new or special. It's just a comedy of the eighties, a decade when this genre was very exploited and, to be honest, battered by several absolutely disastrous films. But is exactly by that, partially, why "The Money Pit" deserves to be noteworthy: because it's so good and works so well. This film, a remake of a forties comedy, is a guarantee of laughter, no matter we are watching for the first time or the hundredth time in our lives. It's a film that does't tire to review over and over again. It is always funny.

Tom Hanks and Shelley Long play a married couple who buy a "dream house" for a ridiculously low price only to find out it is a money-sucking nightmare in this uneven and often misguided comedy.The film makes one fondly remember the much better Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, wherein Cary Grant and Myrna Loy are the couple finding a rather rocky road to success in home ownership. Hanks and Long have adequate (if not spectacular) chemistry and do their best. Unfortunately, they can do nothing to overcome the simplistic screenplay and taciturn direction from Richard Benjamin (has he ever directed a good movie?) There are some genuine laughs, but they all happen fairly early in the proceedings. The film works best when concentrating on the problems the couple has with the house. The sequences with Hanks on the crumbling staircase while Long fights off a nasty raccoon, the bathtub scenes and the chimney scene are pretty amusing. Unfortunately, the screenplay moves away from that into areas that are unfunny and cumbersome, and which also make the lead characters seem unforgivably stupid.One might be able to make the initial jump that these two could be taken in by Maureen Stapleton's obvious con of showing them the house only at night by candlelight (and that is a BIG stretch), but some of their subsequent decisions are equally dumb. Hanks' dealings with a bevy of shady contractors is both unoriginal and irritating. And let's not even discuss the tragically unfunny balletic slapstick sequence in the latter half where Hanks tries to do a Buster Keaton routine on scaffolding and runaway carts purportedly caused by Long trying to find an available plug in the house. It is not only badly choreographed, but cringeworthy.The above could be forgiven to some extent, except the latter portion of the film saddles the leads with an incredibly tiresome did-she-or-didn't-she sleep with her ex-husband subplot. The ex-husband in question is played by the late ballet dancer/actor Alexander Godunov in full lounge lizard mode. We do not believe for one moment that it happened, but this is used to drive a wedge in between Hanks and Long leading to constant bickering, which only succeeds in making them tiresome and unlikable in the moments when we should really be sympathizing with them. It also takes time away from the house, which should be the central comedic force. It also means that the latter portion of the film gives Long almost no comedy sequences and a lot of moments where she is either disagreeable or fretful.By the time the film reaches its conclusion, it seemed longer than it truly is and is fairly forgettable, but for a couple of minor laughs in the opening stretch. Fans of Hanks and Long may rate it slightly higher, but both (especially Hanks) have had better showings elsewhere.