So, let me see if I understand this. We meet Pepper Morales, a married man with kids and a pregnant wife, at his job in a factory. The narrator tells us he is not satisfied with his job and we next see Pepper walk off the job after impulsively overturning a rolling cart filled with empty cans that scatter everywhere, making a mess that his former coworkers will have to clean up. At least he shook the hands of his coworkers before triumphantly exiting the building and leaping in the air for a freeze frame during the opening credits. Pepper goes home and announces he's starting a taxi business, spending almost all the family's savings on a broken down 1959 Cadillac and some take out food. This is during the first ten laugh-free minutes. It never gets better.
Maybe I'm just a cynical old guy, but I don't see a lot of humor in a man placing his family into serious financial jeopardy this way. Luckily for him his wife seems to be clueless about the potential dire consequences of Pepper's actions. He acts like someone experiencing a manic episode and by todays standards, everything he does is disturbing. Playing wacky music and speeding up the frames does not make on screen law-breaking and mental illness funny.
John Astin is funny in The Addams Family, but I cannot imagine what he was thinking to star in this steaming pile of crap. Cameos from the singer/satirist Alan Sherman and Frank Sinatra, Jr. Are also awful.
I gave this two stars because despite its deep flaws, it was fun to see San Diego in 1972 and literally tons of classic cars.
