The Survivors (1983)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

This is a very funny movie. This is an American comedy classic! Period. I dunno what that guy's talking' about. I buy the DVD, lend it and never get it back (so I have to buy it again). There are more great one-liners in this movie than you can shake a stick at. for example: Walter Matthau "Donald, are you okay?" Donald (Robin Williams) holding a hand gun laying on the ground. "Yeah I'm okay, but I think I killed your tree." Or what about this: Donald at the end of a long line at the unemployment office addressing a seemingly dignified elderly woman "Excuse madam, would you mind if I cut in?" "Oh no, not at all, if you don't mind me biting off your nose and sticking it up your ass." See, that's what I mean-outta left field, who-saw-that-one-coming writing. Robin Williams has never been funnier in a movie. What else can you say about a movie featuring luxury survival condos in upstate New York for Heaven's sake? "We'll be hanging on to the rim here when the toilet of society gets the Big Flush." And don't get me started on the Jerry Reed-the bad guy hit-man "I place a very high value on human life-$25,000." Okay, okay-in some highfalutin, grand sense, this movie has no point-none. When, and why, did humor have to have some meaning beyond itself? Who keeps poisoning the comedy well? Oh wait... Doug Chaz sez check it out.

I've seen this movie dozens of times, mostly because of some of the funniest dialogue ever written, and mostly when I was younger and the uneven story, problematic direction and distracting editing were more easily over-looked. Rewatching it tonight, I can still see a good movie in there, somewhere, but the uneven bits and long stretches of not-funny really stand out. In particular, the very last five minutes of the film ruin the rest; a bit like heartburn or food poisoning after a tasty meal.Someone should remake this movie. It would be a shame for the great moments of dialogue to be lost gems within this average and uneven whole.

I'll fore-go the plot summary and rantings of the usual Hollywood critic and cut straight to what this movie is all about...Comedy with a capital C. From the very beginning of the movie when Donald Quinelle(Robin Williams) is fired by a parrot (A. Parrot). It appears as though the economy has gone into the toilet and "society is coming undone like a cheap suit" as we later hear Donald say. Walter Matthau is excellent as Williams' straight man in this movie that precedes "Falling Down" by about a decade. Where the main character in "Falling Down" makes us feel sorry for him because of his misfortune, "The Survivors", namely Robin Williams and Walter Matthau as Soony Paluso, doesn't get our sympathy because we know they're going to get through their trials as they have good humor and good friendship. The movie deals with real issues like unemployment and a failing economy. There is even a subplot that involves a militia movement that feeds on the fears that Donald Quinelle is experiencing. It is all done in fun, as Donald and Sonny run from the bad guy (Jerry Reed) who is not the hit man he makes himself out to be.I saw this movie when it was originally released in '83 with some friends of mine and now 22 years later, we still quote this movie. It is definitely a hidden treasure and why it didn't get great reviews is a mystery to me. There is one scene that may have been a detriment to the success of this film, although I cannot imagine why...In the first act,When Donald is in his hospital bed and gown recovering from the robber's gunshot wound, there is a brief instant when he is watching the news editorial on the hospital TV regarding his own "dumbluck", he turns his backside toward the television and shows his backside to the TV. We don't see his bare backside, however, as he returns to his original position in the hospital bed, Donald reveals a little more of himself under his hospital gown than we bargain for. I think that one got by the editor, but the sack is there for all to see. Not a big deal, but should have been caught by someone other than us, the audience. I highly recommend renting "The Survivors". I bought it on VHS about five years ago after looking for it for several years, and I still watch it once in a while, particularly when I need a good laugh because it seems like the world is coming apart like a cheap suit at times.

the "survivors" is absolutely one of the finest comedies i've come across. never is williams better than when playing the deluded idiot, and this is his finest hour in that persona. matthau's opposite, more reserved approach works perfectly to temper williams' madness. and jerry reed is fantastic as the hit man who may or may not have been responsible for teamster boss jimmy hoffa's disappearance. i must urge those (and there are many) who consider this classic to be a turkey to give it another chance.