The Film Junkie

A kooky little romp of a movie about a rich spoiled jerk, Lawrence (Tom Hanks), who, due to some insane circumstances, ends up working for the Peace Corps in Thailand.  There he meets Tom Tuttle from Tacoma (John Candy), an over-energetic America-rah-rah type and Beth (Rita Wilson) a smart good Jewish gal.

The film is set in 1962 so as to use communism vs. capitalism as its great evils.  The Peace Corps people encounter all kinds of crazy types from a chick with deathly fingernails to a righteous dude who speaks rockin’ English (Gedde Watanabe, very good at playing “that Asian dude” in almost every 80’s comedy).

The best part of this movie is that no one really learns anything.  Lawrence does things his way and is rewarded, he learns how to deal with women a little better, but overall he walks away with few life lessons, which is pretty refreshing.

The movie references everything from the ‘Indiana Jones’ films to ‘The Bridge Over The River Kwai’ to ‘The Wizard of Oz’, keeping it funny throughout.

The worst thing about the movie is Hanks’ horrible Connecticut upper crust accent, it drove me crazy, which I suppose is the point.

A pretty racist and sexist comedy that assumes innocence as it is set in the 60’s, but it is pretty funny.  I love seeing Candy and Hanks together.  Plus, this is the film during which Hanks and Wilson fell in love!

Grade: B+

One of the greatest parodies of all time is this take on the Star Wars trilogy by that master of farce, Mr. Mel Brooks.

He takes pieces of ‘Star Trek’, ‘The Wizard of Oz’, ‘Alien’ and many other movies and mixes them in with a hilarious take on the culture of ‘Star Wars’.  From the mass marketing campaigns to the self-referential moments of mockery.  Brooks gets it right every time.

Bill Pullman and Daphne Zuniga star as the two lovers in peril, with John Candy and Joan Rivers as their sidekicks.  Brooks plays a few characters alongside Rick Moranis as Darth Helmet.  These actors are all at their funniest in this great comedy.

I loved this movie when I saw it as a kid, and I love it even more now.  It is one of the few 80’s comedies that really stands up over time. 

Not to be missed!

Grade: A

I am not a big Ron Howard fan.  Most of his films come out like Speilberg lite, however this is more Zemeckis if anything and it suits him.

The story of a mermaid and a man who fall in love is all total fantasy of course, but it also a sweet story about unexpected love and society focus on dissection rather than understanding.

Tom Hanks is at his young, charming best in this role.  He is funny, but you see the leading man emerging.  John Candy is hilarious as ever as Hanks’ over-bearing party-boy brother.  I forgot how much I missed Candy, this movie brought it all back. 

I am not big on Daryl Hannah either, but she suits this role.  I’m not sure if that is a compliment.

This movie is like a grown up fairytale.  It is fun to watch because it is so unbelievable and sometimes I think we really need to suspend our disbelief, if just for a few hours.

Grade: B+