Today marks the 30th anniversary of Down And Out In Beverly Hills.
May 30th marks the 30th anniversary
release of Down and Out in Beverly Hills
that in this reviewer’s thoughts should not be a cause for any type of
celebration. Despite critic Roger Ebert’s glowing four star review of this at
the time of its release and stating that it made him “laugh lounger and louder
than any film … [that he’d] seen in a long time,” I found it to be quite
average [1] .
That must be the reason that I have not revisited this picture that comes from
an era that I truly cherish, which is the glorious 1980’s history of
cinema.
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| Dang. Brad Pitt looks really scruffy in this. |
The story revolves around a rich family that lives in
Beverly Hills, who are essentially bored by their own existence and the world
that they have created. A homeless man comes into their lives after he tries to
commit suicide in their pool because he has lost his dog and now has no reason
to live. They save him and invite him into their lives and he proceeds to
change them and they come to find that they need him. The core theme of the
movie is friendship and that everyone needs some type of companionship in their
lives in order for it to be meaningful.
It was based upon a French play titled Boudu sauve des eaux,
which had been adapted into a French movie by director Jan Renoir in 1932. The
American version contains some pretty decent actors that include Richard
Dreyfuss, Nick Nolte, and Bette Middler. There are also appearances from
Elizabeth Pena and Little Richard. Their performances are decent but nothing outstanding
and are actually upstaged by the two dogs that play major parts in this. I
found Middler to be downright annoying and simply have never thought very
highly of her in regards to her acting abilities. Little Richard has to be the
best part of this; he has the best lines and also has a very nice scene where
he performs at a party.
There are several issues with this motion picture that has
made it run of the mill. The pacing felt slow and the first act could have been
hurried up. They spent way too long building up to all of the main characters
coming together. It’s also never truly funny or dramatic, it just falls
somewhere in between providing only several real funny moments. Those brief
moments simply cannot save it and I think that is why this one is not as
memorable as some of the other comedies that were released in the '80s.
[1]
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"rogerebert,"
rogerebert, 28 5 2016. [Online]. Available:
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/down-and-out-in-beverly-hills-1986.
[Accessed 28 5 2016].
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