User reviews

I am not sure why this one gets rated so bad and it seems that it never got any publicity, but the movie was good for what it was made to be. It is too absurd to be realistic and that just helps it. I've laughed so many times during it that really, i would recommend it.

Think of it as the naked gun series meets super troopers. It has certain priceless moments such as "the Doc" scenes which are guaranteed to make you fall on the floor.

It is not a serious movie and if you are looking for some deep story line, you won't find it (i feel the need to highlight that). Simple down to earth fun like only the 80s can deliver.

Don't bring popcorn, you might choke on it :)

7/10

After directing Tom Hanks in the comedy smash "Bachelor Party" the year before, Neal Israel would go to take on the traffic school comedy "Moving Violations" with the same fruity results. While I like "Bachelor Party" better, still it's not taking anything away from it, as it had loads of humorous instances consisting of visual gags and gaudy one-liners from a light-headed script. There are some misfires evident, but it's just too pleasant and how can you pass its catchy soundtrack.

After losing their licenses for repeated offences a group of drivers are sentenced to traffic school and their cars impounded, but their bitter driving instructors (once highly regarded officers) are making sure they won't easily pass.

It's the usual formula, as it has that chaotically nutty vein that flowed through "Police Academy (1984)". Sure it can be dumb and low-brow, but its mishap humour is enjoyably staged. Namely James Keach's uptight shtick as Deputy Halik was a complete hoot and an amusing Nedra Volz's blind as a bat turn as Mrs. Loretta Houk. The cast are committed to their misfit characters and made it more the merrier. A likable John Murray (brother of Bill) chips in with his self-knowing presence, throwing around snappy quips. When Keach and Murray came together is when it livened up. Jennifer Tilly keeps it perky and sincere in a role doesn't really ask a real lot from her. Brian Backer is in a usual dweeb role and a diverting Ned Eisenberg bloodshed happy turn is great (the sequence involving the class watching the tape; Blood flows red on the highway!" shows the slightly disturbing obsession). Which he's tagged obviously as a horror fan (referencing films like "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "Friday the 13th" films). Lisa Hart Carroll is marvellous as the cold-hearted deputy Virginia Morris and her cat-fight with Sally Kellerman's shrewish character is unforgettable. Also there's pleasurable support by Fred Willard, Wendie Jo Sperber, Willard E. Pugh and Nadine Van der Velde. Other familiar stars in nothing more than minor cameos are Don Cheadle and Dedee Pfeiffer.

Very hilarious! It's the only film I've ever known to have my mom laughing every 2 minutes [or less] while she watched. She was laughing so much, I had to stop what I was doing and go and see what was all the hubbub about. Even though it didn't receive great reviews, it's really entertaining. I like Dana's line after the car/bigrig collision -- "When the going gets tough, the tough gets going in their pants." Thanks :).

Some of the supporting players get their laughs (the almost-blind old lady and the gore fan stand out). But John Murray is unfunny, unfunny, unfunny and unfunny. You WON'T wonder why he never got a starring vehicle again. As for the level of the humor, well, if the first exchange doesn't clue you in ("I got a promotion" - "Great, and I got my period"), then the second one surely will ("My doctor says I'm a hypochondriac. How can I be a hypochondriac when I'm sick all the time?"). Then again, what did you expect from the director of "Bachelor Party"? (*1/2)

I loved this silliness which didn't try to pass itself off as anything but a totally goofy spoof. I particularly enjoyed Keach's stiff backed, rule happy[exempting himself, of course]cop intent on breaking a group of citizens' while taking advantage of them. If you like super silly farces having no roots in reality this is the ticket.

If you would like to wow your friends with a 1980s comedy that they probably have never heard of, then look no further than "Moving Violations". This movie has a cast of pedigreed comedians, including Fred Willard, Jennifer Tilly, and Sally Kerrerman. The lead goes to John Murray, brother of Bill Murray. His performance is far from unique, as it clearly mimics Bill Murray and John Belushi. In fact "Moving Violations" has certain scenes that seem to have been influenced by "Animal House, and "The Blues Brothers". Overlook these minor annoyances and be mesmerized by the rapid fire gags which make time fly by with maximum laughs. If you admire any of the above films or actors, this is a must see. - MERK

Too much fun! Even though this film would seem way too cheesy and juvenile on the surface, there are just too many laughs for it not to be an entertaining experience. From the makers of Police Academy and Bachelor Party, Moving Violations has enough one-liners and sight gags to more than make up for its lack of plot. Though some of the gags make Dumb and Dumber seem like an episode of Frazier, I guarantee you'll be laughing at it in spite of yourself.

The story concerns a group of perennial bad drivers who are sentenced to a strict traffic school in which they have to pass the course or forfeit their cars to the county. The class is run by two bad-ass motorcycle cops played by James Keach and Lisa Hart Carroll. They have their characters down so well, they'll even frighten you. Keach has a scheme going with the judge that sentenced the bad drivers to the course. Their plan is to make the class impossible and somehow split the profits from the impounded vehicles themselves. To detail this plot any further would be a dis-service to not only this review, but the film itself.

John Murray plays the ringleader of the traffic school bunch. He is certainly no Bill Murray, but he's very charismatic and funny. Most of the other students are made up of typically wacky characters you might expect to find in a movie like this. Most of them are thankfully more funny than annoying. The cast is made up of many familiar faces; some of which went on to better things, and some of them just disappeared. Look closely and you'll spot Don Cheadle working at a fast food drive up window for about five seconds! Since there is so little plot, the film must count on sight gags involving cars being destroyed, old people with diminished facilities, bondage, puppet stages rolling down hills and into funeral homes, you name it. Toward the end, there is as one might expect, a climatic chase scene involving parade floats, a group of marathon runners, and about a thousand cops chasing after our heroes while they're on their way to police headquarters to expose the scheme to sell their cars. By this point, you'll be either rolling with laughter or you will have shut the movie off long before then.

Maybe it's not quite a classic, but I'd say it's a cut above Police Academy and somewhere just below Airplane or Top Secret. The odds are you'll find more than a few things to laugh at.

7 of 10 stars.

The Hound.

Like some of the other people here who have already commented, I vaguely remembered MOVING VIOLATIONS way back in '85 when it first came out and recalling that it was a pretty funny movie, when I saw it was coming on the FOX MOVIE CHANNEL I decided to break down and give it a look even though I had decided to boycott FMC during the month of August in protest of their cancelling the CHARLIE CHAN MYSTERY TOUR. I shoulda kept up the boycott.

I guess I must be getting older because I remembered MOVING VIOLATIONS as being a lot funnier than the movie I saw the other night. John Murray is absolutely pathetic as he imitates his older brother's shtick with little success. It's easy to see why he never had a movie career as he's unfunny and untalented.

It WAS nice to see Clara Peller again. I fondly remember her from those classic Wendy's "Where's The Beef?" commericals and she's one of the few actors in the movie that looks as if she really having a good time. And at the end of the movie, she turns and looks right into the camera and gives us a knowing smile as if to say; "Yeah, this is a lousy movie, but who else is gonna give an old lady like me a gig like this?"

It's always a pleasure to see Jennifer Tilly as she's one of the most beautiful women in the world and I don't care what people say about her voice, I think it's adorable. If you blink you'll miss Don Cheadle as a fast food restaurant clerk. And there's two dependable troopers in this movie: Wendie Jo Sperber and Fred Willard who were the only ones who made me laugh with a scene where she thinks he's a doctor and giving her medical advice. Both of them have been in better movies but they're professional enough to make their scenes stand out even with such dismal entertainment as this.

As I mentioned earlier, my memory must be going bad or maybe my tatses in comedy have just changed because I couldn't believe that at one point in my life I thought MOVING VIOLATIONS was hilarious. Do yourself a favor and stay away from this one at all costs.

This is the funniest movie I have ever seen in my life. I have never laughed so hard at a movie in my life. The movie is so stupid that it is hilarious. The characters are unforgettable and they all fit in well together to make this movie so funny. The jokes in this movie are brilliant and the acting is excellent. This is the most underrated comedy and I recommend it to anyone who wants to have some good laughs. The old lady who can't see and the hypochondriac are probably the funniest characters but Dana is really funny also. I can recite most of this movie cause I have watched it over and over again. This movie is still funny no matter how many times you watch it.

Good comedy starring John Murray (undoubtably Bill's brother) and Jennifer Tilly (you can't go wrong with her either, go see the ridiculously underrated comedy "Bride of Chucky" for more laughs). I've seen this movie many times on cable and would watch it whenever it came on. I rated it a 7 out of 10.

i should have known what i was getting myself into as soon as i realized some of the same people behind Police Academy,were responsible for this thing.but,i thought i'd give it a shot.turns out,all copies of this movie should be shot into outer space,where it can do no harm,at least to us earthlings.i guess if i was 12.this movie might be funny,but i doubt it.the movie(and i use this term loosely)is basically about a bunch of odd characters who get sentenced to traffic school in order to get their licenses back.this movie is really bad,alright,but,believe it or not,there are much worse movies,which should also join this thing on its outer space voyage.it is awful, but there are varying degrees of awful.on the awful meter this thing ranks somewhere almost near the middle.i think my cactus liked it.i'm sure i heard it laugh a few times.as for my fellow human beings,however, if you are looking for a comedy-keep looking. a very weak 1/10

This movie is cheesy, but come on it's hysterical. Bill Murray's brother is a hoot, Keach is funny too as the over the top officer. The scene that tears me up every time I see it is when Murray gets Keach so upset in class he reaches for his gun, only to be stopped by his partner. That had me rollin! Take it for what it is, and lightin up!

It's Birch County, California. Deputy Halik (James Keach) is a brute that just got his promotion from the Chief. Judge Nedra Henderson (Sally Kellerman) orders a bunch of bad drivers to traffic school. Dana Cannon (John Murray) tricks Halik and Deputy Morris to smash up the Chief's car. They are reduced to teaching traffic school. Judge Henderson conspire with the two cops to fail the incompetent group and sell their impounded vehicles. The group includes Cannon, the ditsy NASA scientist Amy Hopkins (Jennifer Tilly), hypochondriac Joan Pudillo (Wendie Jo Sperber), puppeteer Scott Greeber (Brian Backer), Doc Williams (Fred Willard) and near-blind Loretta Houk (Nedra Volz) who drove Emma Jean (Where's the beef? Clara Peller) onto the airport runway.

John Murray is not funny enough and is a pale imitation of his brother Bill Murray. The movie may work marginally with Bill in the lead. Without him, the movie has limits and one can't help but notice that John's mannerisms are very alike to Bill. Of course, John doesn't quite have the same charisma or energy. The movie struggles to maintain group chemistry. The jokes struggle for laughs.

Many moons ago I reviewed Bachelor Party and said I hated it, calling it a waste of Tom Hanks' talent. After their success with Police Academy, the Israel/Proft team decided to attempt another one-off comedy called Moving Violations. While it has become a forgotten film, it doesn't deserve that fate. It's an above-average film with a likable cast and a fun premise. Its biggest weakness is having its main characters rip off other actors extensively.

John Murray (brother of Bill) plays Dana Cannon, a man who runs a nursery for plants. He and a number of other people have been ticketed for various driving violations from corrupt Birch County Deputy Hank Halik (James Keach) and forced to go to Traffic School. They later find out that Halik and equally corrupt Judge Nedra Henderson (Sally Kellerman) are running an illegal car selling scheme where they sell the cars of the people who have had their cars impounded for traffic violations. Of course, the headstrong Mr. Cannon isn't going to take this lying down.

Moving Violations, like a lot of 1980's comedies, has an intriguing cast of actors. A mix of one-hit wonders, siblings of major movie actors, T.V. stars and the debut of Don Cheadle make up the cast. John Murray portrays a character similar to his brother mixed with Michael J. Fox and does an excellent job, though it probably hurt his career as an actor because he couldn't come up with an original personality. James Keach's performance reminded me of his brother Stacy's performance as Sgt. Stedenko in Up In Smoke...maybe a little too similar. Jennifer Tilly delivers that sultry voice of hers in one of her early appearances. However, the one who steals the movie from everyone else is Nedra Volz. She plays the blind-as-a-bat Mrs. Loretta Houk who confidently goes about in the world as if she's got 20/20 vision with hilarious results. Seeing her and Clara "Where's the beef?" Peller together in the movie made me mark out. Seeing these senior icons of the 1980's in the same scene? Awesome.

It's an 80's film so get ready for all the trappings of the decade but it's not too bad here. Some good sight gags, funny situations, good writing and an inventive place for lovemaking add up to a pretty good film. Certainly worth a look.

There's many "classic" comedies that are not funny but amusing but this one is funny. There is one prophetic line in here though where the main character remarks, "this has put me off sex forever" paraphrased something like that as they're peeping through a window at the badguys doing it, as his love interest nods, and he sort of faces her but doesn't glance at her. You should mean that not even as actors but as people as the key to success and more fun movies. I have to admit the badguy officer, as instructor is actually level headed at points just trying to teach them how to drive. Other "classic" comedies also forget they're comedies and end up with way too much drama, I'm not here for that. They have won the toughest genre, Pass. Looney as heck, without any dramatic schmaltz, but not completely pointless and with some semblance of necessary plot.

Not sure why John Murray didn't do more films - he definitely should have, and hopefully he will do some in the future. True, his acting style is similar to his older brother Bill's, but he's individual enough that he coulda made it big. "Moving Violations" is good. Not great, but it was pretty well directed and it's got its strengths. Actually, it made it into theaters only six months after it was written and filmed - if anything, I'd say that they should have gone back and rewritten and polished up a few things. The plot does get stretched a bit thin over the course of the movie...the best parts come in the beginning and middle. The ending is pretty limp and the whole Judge Henderson/Deputy Halik sexcapade and ensuing car chase sequence just gets boring with all the boffo antics. The character of Scott the Puppeteer, played by Brian Backer (Rat of "Fast Times at Ridgemont High") doesn't develop as well as it should have, and the chick who plays his love interest wasn't written well at all - BUT, Backer's star scene near the beginning with the puppet stage rolling down the hill is a total gut-buster. Despite these few problems, there are enough good gags and Murray definitely keeps the movie afloat. Jennifer Tilly is superb as Amy Hopkins the nimrod rocket scientist. James Keach, Wendie Jo Sperber (who had just done "Back to the Future"), Ned Eisenberg, and Nedra Volz all contribute a lot of positive energy, making "Moving Violations" one of those 'so bad, it's good' movies.

A group of minor traffic offenders all have their vehicles impounded and are sentenced to traffic school by Judge Henderson (Sally Kellerman) and if they fail the vehicles will be sold and the money collected by the county. The class is taught by the recently demoted Deputy Halik (James Keach) and his partner/girlfriend Deputy Morris (Lisa Hart Carroll) who've been recently demoted due to a retaliatory prank by one of the traffic school's attendees Dana "Butch" Cannon (John Murray). Unbeknowst to the class, Halik is having an illicit affair with Henderson with the two conspiring to make everyone fail the class and pocket proceeds from the sale of the cars. When Dana finds out he rallies the other attendees to action against Halik and Henderson.

Moving Violations came from the writing team of Neal Israel and Pat Proft, who had delivered the 1984 surprise hit Police Academy. Israel had attended traffic school after getting a ticket and submitted a comedic premise based around the concept of misfits attending traffic school to producer Joe Roth who loved the idea. Israel and Proft by their admission said that in reality traffic school is really boring so they took that as creative license to make things up wholesale for the sake of gags. Does it work? Kind of, but there is that sneaking suspicion that you've seen most of this already in the duo's previous effort in Police Academy.

The movie is the first (and only) vehicle for Bill Murray's brother John Murray (best known for playing Frank Cross' brother James in Scrooged). He's okay in the lead as Dana "Butch" Cannon, but it feels like the writer's are trying to force him as a Bill Murray or Steve Guttenberg type and John just doesn't have the charisma for it. Even the movie seems to be aware of it because when Dana kisses his love interest played by Jennifer Tilly, director Neal Israel shoots the kiss from the back of Murray's head focusing primarily on Tilly who's the stronger presence and rarely showing either Murray's face or the two in profile. John Murray feels like he could be a solid supporting player in this type of movie, but as a forced lead he feels out of his depth especially when he's paired against a nemesis solidly played by actor James Keach. Even if a stronger actor than Murray had been chosen, it still would've been an uphill battle because the way the movie shamelessly rips off the delivery and premise of Police Academy it isn't even attempting to hide it. There's even a rip-off of the "mayor's daughter" subplot and revelation from Animal House.

There's nothing all that wrong with Moving Violations as with a cast that includes the likes of Jennifer Tilly, Sally Kellerman, Fred Willard, and even an early appearance by Don Cheadle as a drive thru fast food worker you're guaranteed to get at least a few decent chuckles. But the movie just has that feeling of "rush" that makes it feel like an in all but name sequel to Police Academy. In an era that was spoiled for choice when it came to "slob comedies" Moving Violations doesn't have anything that makes it hateful like Porky's, but it also doesn't reach the heights of Stripes or Animal House or even the "okay" threshold of Up the Creek or the first Police Academy film. It's watchable, but there are much better options.

One of the funniest movies i've ever seen. Laugh out loud funny.

The only way you wouldn't enjoy this movie is if you're some stuck up elitist prick who only likes movies with subtitles or lame crap that the Oscar's usually gush over.

If you actually have a sense of humor you will bust a gut while watching this movie, especially the big chase scene at the end.

Decent Cast with Jennifer Tilly, Stacy Keech, Sally Kellerman, Fred Willard and starring Bill Murray's brother!

Great 80's flick, if i had to compare it to another movie, i'd say Mark Harmon's 80's flick Summer School is kinda similar.

"Moving Violations" came from the same group of producers that brought us such '80s mega-hit comedies as "Police Academy" and "Bachelor Party," though for one reason or another "M.V." didn't achieve the same level of box office success and has been mostly forgotten today. I loved it as a teenager, though. I must've seen this one at least a dozen times on HBO back in the mid-'80s and cracked up every time. I hadn't seen it in a good 20 years at least but when it suddenly turned up on Fox Movie Channel a couple of weeks ago I felt I had to check it out and see how well (or not) it had aged. Surprisingly enough, I still got a decent amount of chuckles from the film. I guess it still appeals to my inner 14 year old. For those who've never seen it, "Moving Violations" is a pretty standard "slobs vs. the snobs" story, with the "slobs" being a group of terrible drivers sentenced to traffic school and "the snobs" being the tight-assed traffic cops in charge of the class and a crooked judge who has her own designs for the impounded vehicles belonging to the students. The cast is made up of an impressive group including John Murray (youngest brother of Bill Murray, in his first and perhaps only leading role), Jennifer Tilly, Fred Willard, the late Wendy Jo Sperber, Brian Backer (of "Fast Times"), James Keach (brother of Stacy Keach and current husband of Jane Seymour) and Sally Kellerman. We even get a cameo by the legendary Clara Peller (a.k.a. the "Where's The Beef?" lady from the then-current Wendy's commercials). How can you NOT want to watch this? John Murray's "Dana" is the ringleader of the wrongfully-sentenced traffic schoolers and he mugs for all he's worth and gets all the best lines as he and his fellow misfits fight back against Keach's Cop From Hell. When these two match wits it's like watching Bugs Bunny (Murray) vs. Elmer Fudd (Keach). OK, so maybe this isn't a great film, but it is a wonderfully silly one. You gotta love a movie that features a puppet-theatre-on-wheels crashing into a funeral home (sending a casket sailing out the window and directly into its grave), a hypochondriac Wendy Jo chugging a bottle of cooking oil, plugging her orifices with Vaseline and going for a jog, and the sight of Sally Kellerman running down the street in bondage gear (meow!). Oh, and this movie has the single best line of dialogue ever in Hollywood history, when Fred Willard tells a confused Sperber, "We even have some celebrity clients... why, just last week I completely reamed out Roger Moore. He was totally satisfied, in fact he's coming back next week for a full rear-end job."

I would rather sit through "Moving Violations" again than any of the "Police Academy" sequels, and I wonder why John Murray never starred in another movie, as he was hilarious throughout this one and seemed to be heading in the same direction as his brother Bill. Perhaps this wasn't the right "vehicle" (pun not intended) for him? Either way, "Moving Violations" is an unjustly forgotten slice of goofball '80s comedy. They really don't make'em like this anymore.