Review of Ruthless People (1986) by Adam R — 07 Aug 2014

Clocking in at a whopping ninety minutes, Ruthless People feels a tad undercooked. Ruthless People was pretty clearly made as a disposable movie; there's no looking towards posterity here. It's silly and predictable and funny. You'll get a laugh out of how "ruthless" the kidnappers are, and Bette has some really classic lines like "I've been kidnapped by K-Mart!" And while I'm on the subject of the actors, not a single person is miscast here. Even Bette Midler, playing Sam's wife, manages to shed her outrageous and larger-than-life persona for this initially dumpy and overweight house frau type. And while Reinhold and Pullman are very good, the movie belongs to DeVito. The fine direction is by Jim Abrahams, who has a lot of talent for directing comedies, and keeps the spirit of the script alive and pumping, resulting in a merely hilarious movie. However, familiarity and predictability do begin to take their toll a little towards the end. For the most part, though, it proves thoroughly entertaining.

VERDICT: "In The Zone" - [Mixed Reaction] These kinds of movies are usually movies that had some good things, but some bad things kept it from being amazing. This rating says buy an ex-rental or a cheap price of the DVD to own. If you consider cinema, ask for people's opinion on the film. (Films that are rated 2.5 or 3 stars).