Review of Ruthless People (1986) by Larry G — 03 Nov 2009
Difficult as I may find it to rate an eighties crime comedy 4 stars, I think â??Ruthless peopleâ?? is really worth it. It is even as if the tackiness of the eighties is added to this movie as a kind of special effect (which is of course impossible â?? how could anyone do so during the decade itself?).
The over-the-top interior of the Stone house, the ridiculous fitness craze of the time and some other elements all appear to underline the overall mood of this production. Even the now very dated musical score adds to that very mood unwittingly.
For the rest, the movie is highly amusing for every other imaginable reason: the plot twists full of mix-ups, crossed wires and inversions (who is victimizing whom, who is blackmailing whom, who is to blame for what, who are the real criminals, who are the really ruthless ones, who is the most ignorant, etc.
), De Vito and Midlerâ??s sublime acting, the parody elements (kidnapper phoning with the classic distorted voice, but canâ??t keep up the act, extorted party haggling over the height of the ransom, etc.
). The movie even works on the level of the minor details: both the hi-fi sales act (another element stirring memories of the eighties) and Midlerâ??s slimming spree brought big smiles to my face (here speaks the voice of experience).
In short, this is a very light movie, but as such it delivers very well. By the way, this is the third movie from the eighties I saw recently that had a clown act in it. Must have been the fashion back then.
This review of Ruthless People (1986) was written by Larry G on 03 Nov 2009.
Ruthless People has generally received positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
