Sunday, June 29, 2014

Flick Pick: The Money Pit

The Money Pit
(Universal, 1986)

Tom Hanks and Shelley Long milking every pitfall in home renovation for all it's worth, in a remake of 1948's Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House. Unlike that Cary Grant outing, this one produced by Steven Spielberg made quite a tidy profit, and 30 years later, NBC is still trying to make a sitcom out of it. Without the talent of Alexander Godunov, who steals every scene in The Money Pit where he makes an appearance, they're unlikely to get beyond a pilot episode that's worth watching, but lack of quality has never stopped a TV show from being made in recorded history. Watch the original instead.

2 comments:

Weetabix said...

I watched a movie with Shelley Long in it once. I won't make THAT mistake again. I think I've liked pretty much every Tom Hanks movie I've seen, but I'm not sure he has the power to overcome her event horizon.

Aesop said...

Then obviously, you never saw The Man With One Red Shoe, the cinematic equivalent of the TV series, Bosom Buddies. Both are proof that anyone of sufficient talent can make epic stinkers and still survive.

Shelley Long was interchangeable here with any number of other actresses, but she doesn't get enough screen time to ruin anything, and turns in a worthy performance. Her forays as a leading lady underlined the faults you noted, but this isn't one of them.