Sibling Rivalry

This movie is the worst thing one could waste their time on. I have to disagree with the people who call this film 'good entertainment' and 'funny' for my friend and I do not feel quite the same way. We too 'ran into the movie by coincidence' but we were walking around or local video store looking for a random movie rather than shopping the bargain bins at the local K-Mart. We took the movie home and watched it, but did not happen to find 'a great little funny movie.' In fact, if the video hadn't been property of the video store, my friend and I would have taken the tape out back and burned it in effigy right at the credits started to roll. This movie was that bad.

Enjoyable on several levels, "Sibling Rivalry" is the type of black comedy that can withstand the test of time. In other words the lively script will never seem dated. The cast is uniformly excellent, and the dark subject (adultery caused death cover-up) is terrific material for this type of comedy. Bill Pullman absolutely steals the movie with a character similar to the one he played in "Ruthless People" If you enjoy dark comedy then this is a must see. Carl Reiner has come through with another winner that is perhaps under the radar, but deserves to be seen. It will definitely hold up to multiple viewings, which is only one sign of "Sibling Rivalry"'s excellence. - MERK

This movie reminded me a lot of "Arsenic and Old Lace." I don't really know why. Except for the dead body. I am a big fan the Carl Reiner and his son Rob Reiner.. I believe that their contribution to the America Cinema is incommensurable. Bill Pullman (Zero Effect) does a wonderful job playing really clumsy people. Carrie Fisher (Sleepless in Seattle) is great playing the snobbish pain in the neck sister in law. The script is funny! I ran into this movie by coincidence. One of those on sale type things and I found a great little funny movie. I recommend it!

Starring Kirstie Alley at her funniest, this comedy has what it takes to be a future classic. The cast alone makes this a perfect comedy which includes Scott Bakula, Ed O'Neill, Bill Pullman, Sam Elliott and Carrie Fisher. Not your typical female "chick flick" movie, Sibling Rivalry is the story about a housewife who has an unlikely affair with her husbands brother. Sounds like a Greek tragedy, but it is not. Sibling Rivalry plays on the coincidence factor and does it successfully. The cast of characters are as funny a the lines they say. Taking place in a small community, the events all take place in a number of days and in a small number of locations. With the feel of an independent, low budget movie, Sibling Rivalry is also a typical Carl Reiner film where everything blends together by the end. Not your typical romantic comedy like When Harry Met Sally, this is one of Carl's classic and it is just as good if not better.

If this movie had stuck with its black comedy premise all the way to the end it might have been a memorable film, as. e.g., the later "War of the Roses." As it is there is some marvellously funny dialogue in the first 2/3 of the movie, as well as some hilarious slapstick in the hotel room when Allie's and Pullman's characters are deciding how to deal with the corpse. The portrayal of the husband's all-doctor family is pretty good, too. Unfortunately all of this is wasted in pursuit of the prized Happy Ending, wherein Marjorie's infidelities are seen as a stepping stone to a fuller relationship with her chastened husband. Puh-leez.