Vivir el momento

I caught this stink bomb a couple of months ago and watched out of morbid fascination. It really, Really sucks. I can't believe it didn't sink Travolta's career. He should've had his head examined for playing this crappy part. Fortunately, he rebounded and made much better films. I only watched it b/c I'd read about how horrible it is. Lame dialogue and a completely unsexy atmosphere make this more painful than drinking Drano.

A magazine recently posed the question about "Moment by Moment": "Ever wonder what might make you kill yourself? How about two hours of a young John Travolta prancing around in his tighty whiteys, repeatedly banging (what could pass for) his mother?" Well, the magazine was close to correct.

Man, there's a reason this one isn't on video (public embarrassment not the least of them). But it's so absolutely awful you have to catch it if it shows up on broadcast or cable TV. Travolta playing a young stud named STRIP (!) and Lily Tomlin as his older lover. Many soulful, soft-focus gazes and incredibly lame dialog. Too much fun!

I have never laughed my fool head off so hard as when I read some of the reviews here. But why be mean to Lily? MALE actors cast themselves ALL THE TIME opposite leading ladies far younger and even more COMPLETELY out of their league. (Woody Allen, Jack Nicholson, Sean Connery anyone?) That being said, the main reason to watch this is that it's so not ABOUT anything that it's surreal. If you put yourself in the context of the ME decade, you can see what Jane Wagner was going for here, two people "finding themselves." The trick is making anyone else care. Well, I cared, in the same sense that I care when I see a pile-up on the freeway. Still, if you like Travolta's hairy chest this is a good one watch it in. (If you like it waxed, see "Two of a Kind.") If you want to see Lily in an atypical role, this is the one to watch too. Let's face it, as film disasters go, I'll take this over "The Majestic" any day!

Though Ms. Tomlin apparently (and with good reason) tried to have this movie buried, it turned up on AMC last week, and oh joy! oh bliss! I was able to tape it to own for all time.

No lover of bad movies can claim such status if you haven't seen this one. It is an absolute DELIGHT from beginning to end, from the cheesy 70s titles displayed while a bored Lily shops Rodeo Drive to a "romantic" score, to the astonishing lack of character development by the lead actors, to John Travolta's reason for running away from home (Mom and Dad forgot his birthday -- two years in a row!) to some of the funniest dialog ever (Lily to John: "Are you a member of the Auto Club?", which line is wittily and meaningfully repeated at the end of the film; and the "tuna" lunch scene). John's character name -- STRIP -- should clue you in on the fun in store -- every time Lily utters it, you find yourself wondering if she's saying his name or issuing a directive. And the hot tub scene is one for the ages.

You'll find yourself wondering if it was all meant as a joke, but when you realize that all these people were apparently dead serious (witness Lily's phone "breakdown" with her ex), you'll want to watch it again and again to savor the wonderful horror of it all.

This movie has EVERYTHING (even two loveable mutts, one with a bandaged foot, and a mob murder subplot that dies quicker than the victim). If you must, scour your TV listings EACH week so that you won't miss the next showing. It will be well worth the wait, I promise.

Stupid! Possibly the dumbest script for a full-budget movie in Hollywood history, and the "chemistry" between Tomlin and Travolta is utterly laughable. The direction is as clumsy as you are ever likely to see. Only a pretty lively soundtrack saves it from being my #1 worst movie of all-time. Feeling charitable, I give it 2/10.