Review of The 'Burbs (1989) by Sean L — 23 Jul 2014

Life amongst the white middle class at the dawn of the 1990s, as seen through the exaggerated eye of a superpowered magnifying glass. Tom Hanks plays the lead, a meek all-American dad who's plagued by quirky neighbors throughout his long-awaited staycation.

There's a lot of truth at the core of these characters, who should seem quite familiar to anyone who's ever so much as visited a similar neighborhood, but their personalities are so thoroughly overinflated that at some point they cross a hidden line and become straight-up cartoon characters.

The storyline, which seems to have plenty of fuel to burn in the setting alone, is strangely preoccupied with other things. What seems like a simple side story, about the creepy neighbors in the big, spooky, haunted house, instead dominates the entire picture, taking the film in weird, obsessive directions.

Hanks is good as the weary everyman, deeply curious but terrified of confrontation, and he enjoys good help from his supporting cast: Carrie Fisher, Bruce Dern and Rick Ducommun work well together as the not-quite-cordial neighborhood welcoming committee.

It's strange to see Corey Feldman, just four years removed from The Goonies, as a hard-drinking, home-owning Spicoli clone, but it works for him. Excessively nutty and silly like any number of the era's comedies, if perhaps somewhat genre-confused.