Big Business (1988)

Purely Joyful Movie!

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Reworking of the main gag in 1970's "Start the Revolution Without Me" has a rich couple from New York City, driving through a small southern town, checking into a bumpkin hospital where the wife delivers twins--two girls; at the same time, in the same befuddled hospital, a local woman also delivers twins--two girls. The joke, of course, is: one of the city babies is switched with one of the daughters from the farm family and, many years later, they all meet up at the Plaza Hotel. Bright, funny comedy, one of Bette Midler's better efforts for Touchstone, although it takes its time getting started. Once the action moves to the Plaza, it becomes less a vehicle for stars Midler and Lily Tomlin than a visual effects-driven farce with overtures to the 1930s. Tomlin's small town fussbudget is colorful, but her big city counterpart never takes shape, and she doesn't quite click with Midler (one may argue their characters are not related and therefore shouldn't click, but Tomlin's timing is very different from her co-star's, and she doesn't segue into brash slapstick comfortably). There's a great deal of incidental plotting revolving around the main action, with nutty characters continually popping up, but the jokes are freshest and funniest when director Jim Abrahams simply sets the camera on Bette Midler and lets her go. The editing is sloppy and abbreviates some of Midler's liveliest moments, yet Bette is very amusing when she's allowed to take charge. Fred Ward also appealing as a country rube who loves one or both of the Tomlins--although this pairing, too, lacks charisma (it's a plot device, like much of the rest of "Big Business"). *** from ****

"Big Business" reminds me of some of the great comedy teams from Hollywood's Golden Age. A total laugh feast from start to finish this film strangely doesn't seem to have a high profile as comedies go however it is recommended viewing for anyone wanting a good old fashioned belly laugh and to see a comedy with probably the highest number of side splitting one liners in living memory. The premise of identical twins being mixed up at birth and meeting years later creating amusing complications is a tried and try formula for comedy however in "Big Business", it is given a new freshness by the two leads who literally fly away with the material here. It's got a really simple plot, In a small town of Jupiter Hollow, two sets of identical twins are born in the same hospital on the same night. One set to a poor local family and the other to a rich family just passing through. Then the story flashes forward to the 1980's where the mismatched sets of twins are about to cross paths following a big business deal to close-down the Jupiter Hollow factory. The film is shot in New York.Overall, I had a great time revisiting the film. 'Big Business' is just as funny the first time I saw it. The film will certainly have plenty of critics, but the film was never meant to be taken seriously. The film is harmless fun and makes for a very funny experience even today. Built on a solid script the films hilarious humor performance delivery was spot on, special effects were flawless and the music sets the scenes perfectly, in this must revisited 1980's comedy classic.Overall rating: 8 out of 10.

Big Business has always been a movie I love watching from time to time. I will say that Lily Tomlin and Bette Midler never let me down as they got into their completely ludicrous, wacky antics that pay tribute to the old slapstick humor without being too in your face. Bette Midler came out to be the strongest of the two this time though and her performance is again what makes a film. Her character(s) were just so lovable, and Bette Midler's yodel scene was my favorite scene of the movie. One humongous personal problem I found with the movie, and practically this was the only thing wrong with the film, was I think they should have let more time in for the final meeting scene between all 4 of them. I mean, they finally find their twins, and then it has like 4 minutes for them to talk to each other and then goes off. Uh? They could have let us see more, you know? Anyway, I found Big Business to be good, and was just a nice, quaint film to watch indeed.

The 1988 film "Big Business," directed by Jim Abrahams, stars two well-known actresses, Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin, who both play duel roles of twins mixed up at birth in the 1940s. The names chosen for both sets of twins were Rose and Sadie. The Shelton twins were born to a wealthy couple from New York; the Ratliff twins are from a low-income family that lived in Jupiter Hollow. One of the Shelton twins was given to the Ratliff family and vice-versa. Jump forty plus years to the 1980s. The Shelton twins inherited their father's corporation Moramax in New York City, and the Ratliff twins work at the Hollow-Made Factory in Jupiter Hollow, the town in which they were born. Moramax is planning to shut down the factory and to strip-mine Jupiter Hollow. The Ratliff's come to New York City to save the factory and town from the Shelton's corporation. Both the Ratliff's and Shelton's stay in the Plaza Hotel in NYC, not knowing their real twins were also there. They end up meeting each other right before Moramax's big meeting, and Rose Shelton agrees with Sadie and Rose Ratliff to save the factory and Jupiter Hollow. "Big Business" presents two central ideas. One idea is that two sets of twins can be born on the same night in the same hospital can be switched at birth and can meet one another later in life. Another idea would be that the "big guy" doesn't always win. The "big guy" in this movie would be the Moramax corporation and the "little guy" would be the Hollow-Made Factory. I say this because at the end of the movie the Ratliff's end up saving their town and factory from the Shelton's large corporation. I thought that this movie was hilarious; it receives five stars. I watch this movie over and over and never seem to get tired of it. I loved how both Midler and Tomlin play two completely opposite roles, redneck and snobbish. The southern accents (in my opinion) were excellent. This movie is similar to the "Green Acres" television show, only the rednecks end up in New York City. I wish that the director would make a sequel to see how Jupiter Hollow, the factory, and Moramax are doing.