Review of Funny Farm (1988) by Anthony G — 27 Jun 2018

A very misleading title and miscast Chevy Chase lead to an underwhelming movie.

The film wastes Chevy Chase as a lead man and has him downplaying everything that makes him funny or interesting.

The title is odd as implies it is set on a farm and is a comedy which it is neither or it is using the slang term for a mental institution, again which it is not.

Chevy Chase in a straight role is not what I was expecting and the film does not serve up any laughs or anything new or interesting.

The basic plot is a yuppie but likeable city couple moving into the country and realising the country is not what they expected. Similar to the money pit, with Tom Hanks but, lacking the fun and laugh out loud moments of seeing their dream and marriage fall apart around their ears along with their house.

This film suffers as they don't really have much go wrong other than he has writer's block and the small town is not very friendly.

The last 20 mins switches to a Christmas movie! very odd and out of place but an interesting idea. They ask the town's folk to pretend to be the 'perfect' inhibitants of a small town to sell their house as they are divorcing.

Up until this point the film was all set in the summer. The couple offers the town money to be on their best behaviour when people come to see the house they are trying to sell. This leads to 20 mins in a charming Christmas setting that feels out of place with the rest of the movie but if it was expanded could have been an okay idea for a Christmas movie.

At the end this is a poor comedy starring an 80s comedy icon.

One you could happily avoid.