Ruthless People

Year: 1986
Genre: Farce
Directed: David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker
Stars: Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Judge Reinhold, Helen Slater, Anita Morris, Bill Pullman, William G. Schilling, Art Evans, Clarence Felder, J.E. Freeman
Production: Touchstone Pictures

What ever happened to the farce? As time has progressed, pure movie comedies seem to be less about goofy, over-the-top characters and contrived situations and more about the characters themselves growing in unexpected ways and mining as much gold out of a singularly enjoyable premise. Think The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005) or more recently, The Big Short (2015) to see what I mean. The competing thought in American comedy is that of the vehicle; a movie specifically designed for one actor or actress in mind. It's sad to think that in the last few years (heck arguably within the last two decades) we have not seen a good 'ol fashion farce come out of Hollywood. Honestly I think the only movie that ever came close to the delirious heights of One, Two, Three (1961) over the last decade was Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011).

And every movie just mentioned stars Steve Carell

Ruthless People is a relic; a true, blue unadulterated farce made by the same loons that made Airplane! (1980). Danny DeVito stars as businessman Sam Stone, the repugnant spandex mini-skirt king. In a bid to rid himself of his irritating wife, gain her $15 million fortune and rid himself of her un-house trained poodle, Sam has a surefire plan to murder her without implicating himself. He comes home to do the deed; Barbara (Midler) is nowhere to be found. The phone rings; Sam picks it up and a man on the other line informs him his wife has been kidnapped and they expect a ransom. "If you notify the police, your wife will be killed. If you notify the media, your wife will be killed." Naturally Sam is tickled pink. Thus a dozen or so fateful events and circumstances tie the lives of Sam, Barbara, the kidnappers (Reinhold and Slater), Sam's mistress (Dodsworth), her doltish Don Juan (Pullman) and a particularly nasty serial killer with mommy issues (Freeman).

The screenplay is written by the underrated Dale Launer based on an O. Henry short story. Launer's other credits include other well constructed and executed farces including Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) and My Cousin Vinny (1992). Ruthless People however is his first screenplay thus the story occasionally suffers from a narrative lull as well as some conspicuously dropped exposition. The characters are perilously stock, forged from the collective works of Shakespeare and Moliere and diluted to pander to 80's sensibilities. Yet despite all this, the story is reliably funny, seething with venomous cynicism and stitched together by the fun performances of Danny DeVito and Bette Midler.

The direction however leaves much to be desired. A hit during its time, Ruthless People has aged about as well as Weekend at Bernie's (1989) and Arthur 2: On the Rocks (1988). Part of it has to do with directors David Zucker, Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams (known collectively as ZAZ) whom temper their knack for slapstick and anarchistic flights of fancy. Perhaps it's their desire to try something different, or perhaps it's their inability to visually translate something they didn't write themselves, but what results is so-so physical comedy; largely and disappointingly provided by Judge Reinhold's milquetoast face.

Dear God 1980's, make it stop!

Then there's the unmistakably 80's feel of the art direction. I realize the film is supposed to take place in glitzy Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles and I realize a lot of the characters are somehow involved in high fashion but for the love of God my eyes are bleeding! The angular decor, nasty amalgamation of pastels and paisleys mixed with harsh primary colors makes it seem as if a bullet train ran into John Waters's walk-in closet. Those who lived through the eighties and decide to watch this movie 30 years later, please enjoy yourselves then go home and burn the rest of your spandex.

Making a movie like Ruthless People today would be nearly impossible. Developing a screenplay basing its humor on goofy characters and miscommunication would seem out of place in an era of near constant communication. We deal with our own miniature farces everyday to be sure; especially every time we talk past each other on social media. Yet those are not the type of misunderstanding that farce feeds on to create scenes of discomfort, double meanings and giddy hilarity. In other words your Facebook feed has nothing on Ruthless People.

Final Grade: C+