User reviews

I am surprised that this, well above average 80's comedy scores only a 5.2 from all the IMDB voters. Dan Ackroyd does his usual satirical turn as a con who seizes a great opportunity to steal a contract from his prisons physician. He retreats to California to start his work giving advice on a radio show pretending to be the infamous Dr Lawrence Baird. The only person that knows he's an imposter is the drunken priest (Walter Matthau) who comes along to be pampered by Ackroyd's new found wealth having blakmailed him. Charles Grodin throws in a good supporting performance too. For its genre I think this film deserves the same crediblity as 'Ferris Bueller' or 'Trading Places'. 7.5 / 10

I had a lot of fun watching this, and that is all you can ask from a film which tries to give people a feeling of fun.

Dan Aykroyd stars as a mental patient with skills who outmaneuvers the head doctor and pretends to be him to take a job elsewhere, with the ensuing mayhem that follows until the eventual discovery (sort of) of the deception, a story which has been told before but never with as much fun. Aykroyd is brilliant as the mental patient along the way he bumps into Walter Matthau who adds to the mayhem, Matthau does a good job in the role but is not trying to hard to upstage Aykroyd, and Charles Grodin as another shrink who has gone a bit crazy himself is pretty good. The support actors are generally good, Donna Dixon ( the real life wife of Dan Aykroyd) is a bit wooden but the others are ok, but it doesn't matter as Aykroyd, Grodin & Matthau are running the show.

The story is a bit implausible and its well over the top, but deliciously funny. Michael Ritchie directs very well and the pace is kept moving quite well. Its only 1hr 37 min long, you could have added another 10-20 mins on and it would still be as funny if not more. One of the better comedy films of the 80's.

When writing it has a 5.8 rating on here ? But it is much better than that.

This is a strange, little, forgotten movie from the late eighties. It's one of those "Large-cast kitchen sink" movies that delivers some good gags. If you like the people in this one, give it a shot.

I wasn't expecting much from this movie to be honest, it was on late night television and only stayed to watch it because I couldn't sleep, but I found it funny, original and it has a great cast. This is one of those lost eighties comedies which more people should see. Dan Aykroyd is especially brilliant giving his usual mad perfomance! See it if you can...

9 out of 10

This was an 1970s-type irreverent comedy, poking fun at the psychiatric profession and at Beverly Hills. I didn't mind that but I did object to more that irreverence regarding marriage and religion: two topics which secular filmmakers (meaning about everyone in Hollywood and elsewhere) just can't stop trashing.

Walter Matthau plays a scuzzy character, "Donald Becker," who walks around with a cleric's collar on, which offends me but when has Hollywood ever been worried about offending Christians?

Anyway, despite that nonsense the film has its entertaining moments and even some charm to it. Dan Aykroyd is good at paying a nut-case and Donna Dixon ("Laura Rollins") is a knockout. I am sorry she didn't have a bigger role.

"The Couch Trip" is one of those silly comedies that they cranked out in the '80s. In this case, Dan Aykroyd plays a mental patient who poses as a psychiatrist, and he goes to Beverly Hills to sub for Charles Grodin. Most of the movie's humor springs from their satirical look at Beverly Hills and people's empty lives there (a woman has a power struggle with her maid).

It's the sort of movie that you just watch to have a good time. Don't expect any kind of religious experience. But you'll most likely laugh a lot at how the Beverly Hills people flaunt their wealth. Also starring Walter Matthau, Donna Dixon, Arye Gross and Victoria Jackson (of "UHF").

This was a good and enjoyable 'silly' comedy, that is filled with a whole bunch of crazy fun characters. A typical great '80's comedy, with also some great '80's comedy stars in it.

The movie is truly uplifted by its cast. Dan Aykroyd is really great. It's funny but I don't I've ever seen him play the main character before in a comedy. I already always liked him as the sidekick but with this movie he proofs that he can also handle a comedy in which he plays the main character. The movie also further more features Charles Grodin and Walter Matthau, among others. Esepcially Charles Grodin is also great as the stressed out psychiatrist. Walter Matthau seems a bit out of place, since his character doesn't serve a significant enough purpose in the movie, comical-wise.

The concept and the story show great comedy potential. An escaped 'menthal' patient takes the place of a psychiatrist. He and his radio show become an huge success. But of course soon things are starting to go crazy again when people start to see through his scam and the real psychiatrists shows up. It provides the movie with some great silly moments and some real great laughs. The movie made me laugh out loud at times, due to how silly it all became at times.

But things start to get really crazy toward the ending of the movie, in a not so positive way. The movie tries to put way too much in the ending, both comically and dramatic/morally. The movie gets very crazy and unbelievable and things get rushed way too hard. Even the characters start to not work out as good anymore. The movie tries too hard but it simply fails. The ending just doesn't feel right and satisfying enough. A shame, otherwise I would had surely rated this movie higher.

A movie definitely worth watching for a couple of good laughs but it just isn't the best 'silly' '80's comedy around.

6/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Michael Ritchie's "The Couch Trip" is a wonderfully anarchic comedy about what makes a good psychiatrist. It is so subtle and wicked that you start to realize what a stinging satire it really is. It is also Dan Akyroyd's best movie, made in a particularly great film year (1988)for him. First, "The Great Outdoors" and now this.

Akyroyd stars as John Burns, a career crook who fakes insanity to escape prison. Now, a dumb comedy would just be about this. But "The Couch Trip" uses this as a springboard for everything else. Beverly Hills psychiatrist George Maitlin (Charles Grodin, subtly hilarious here)has a nervous breakdown and a replacement is selected: Lawrence Baird, who happens to be Akyroyd's psychiatrist! You can pretty much guess what's going to happen, but the great thing about "The Couch Trip" is not what happens, but how it is done.

"The Couch Trip" gives Dan Akyroyd the best role he has ever had. His John Burns is one of the truly original comic creations in movie history. Wicked one liners and physical humor are a part of it, but what makes it special is that Akyroyd makes Burns a lovable character. We root for him and grow to like him a whole lot during the 98 minute running time.

But Akyroyd isn't alone here. He gets strong support from other great comic actors. Walter Matthau joins the hilarity as a con artist minister who catches on to Burns' secret and commits genteel blackmail. Charles Grodin "slow burns" his way to another great comic role as the burned out psychiatrist. Grodin has been one of the most underappreciated actors in Hollywood. It's criminal they haven't used him more often. Richard Romanus plays Grodin's slimeball lawyer to perfection.

"The Couch Trip" is one of many films made by the now-defunct Orion Pictures Corporation that are currently unseen. MGM spent a fortune buying the Orion library but have yet to truly cash in on their acquisition. "The Couch Trip" joins "Dressed to Kill", "Blow Out" and countless others in gathering dust rotting in the vault. Shame on MGM for their inaction. Hopefully, with new management, "The Couch Trip" will find the audience and respect it deserves.

**** out of 4 stars

"The Couch Trip" is a frustrating film to watch because it is so uneven. Portions that show Dan Aykroyd playing a radio shrink are amazingly good...and some other parts, such as what Donna Dixon's character does at the very end, simply look sloppy and don't fit in the story.

John Burns (Aykroyd) is a most unusual man. While he's very bright and sure knows how to manipulate people, he's also spent much of his adult life in various institutions...such as prisons and psychiatric hospitals.

John's psychiatrist, Dr. Baird, is tired of this patient's antics in the hospital and has arranged to have him sent to prison instead. But when John is left alone in the Doctor's office, the phone rings...and John answers and pretends to be Baird. Well, it turns out a famous radio psychiatrist (Charles Grodin) wants him to fill in for him at his practice...and on his syndicated radio show. Not wanting to be sent to prison, John soon escapes and finds his way to California...where he soon becomes a very popular radio host....even more so than the man he's temporarily replacing.

The basic plot I mentioned above was VERY good. But the writer had problems with subplots....which tended to be more distracting than funny. This is especially true with Walter Matthau's character during much of the film. Additionally, the two real psychiatrists are more caricatures than believable in any way...especially how they both act near the end.

So what did I think of this? Well, I loved Aykroyd and his character. As for everyone else, they just weren't consistently written and tended to take away from the otherwise funny plot. Worth seeing but too uneven to merit more than a 6.

John Burns (Dan Aykroyd) is a prisoner patient in a state mental hospital in Chicago. He escapes, steals his doctor's identity, and flies out to L. A. where he takes over from radio host Dr. George Maitlin (Charles Grodin). Dr. Laura Rollins (Donna Dixon) is Maitlin's assistant. Donald Becker (Walter Matthau) is a crazy guy at the airport.

This is mildly amusing. I'm ambivalent towards Aykroyd and his character. I'm ambivalent to almost everybody in this movie. The best hope is the pairing of Aykroyd and Matthau. That seems to be a promising pairing but they don't have much time together. One has to wait until the midpoint before Matthau shows up. It's a lot of setting up and meandering plot. I can take it or leave it with this movie.

Only one comment (as of this writing) on IMDB?? Which is the ultimate example of why this is a very underrated comedy dealing with Aykroyd's escape from a mental facilitly (more like a den for misfits) and masqerading as his hated supervisor/doctor from the nutbarn. He heads to L.A. with his assumed name to sub for an unstable radio shrink (Grodin) and his candid approach garners him city-wide attention. He fast talks his way into a big contract and seems on his way. He gets distracted, though, by knockout Dixon (his real-life wife, how lucky), who is some kind of shrink-producer and also by Matthau's perceptive homeless schemer. He's onto Aykroyd and says he'll keep quiet if Dan splits the cash with him. That's just a little of what's going on in this busy little conman adventure, as at the same time Grodin is getting wise with the real doctor Aykroyd is impersonating. And Grodin's wife is also involved with his lawyer, who is seeing dollar signs in Aykroyd, as well is a kiss-butt producer, and annoyingly assisting Grodin is Clennon, the real doctor who is supposed to be replacing him. There are a lot of great jabs at the psychiatry profession, and the entertainment business, the best being the short but very memorable scene where Aykroyd takes calls on the radio, one of the funniest scenes I've ever watched. Unfortunately, the film ends abruptly and could've used a better knock out blow. But, from beginning to (near) end this provides a lot of solid laughs and it's too bad that the kind of plot it has doesn't permit another trip to the couch.

Dan Ackroyd plays one of those free-spirited plays-by-his-own-rules characters who effortlessly overcomes every obstacle and never seems to sweat. These characters only seem to inhabit movies because in reality they are arrested or shot on their first wacky adventure. Normally I roll my eyes and groan at a movie like this. There's a predictability to it that limits how good it can possibly be. That being said, Ackroyd does well with the material. He takes a character who is quite frankly obnoxious as hell and makes him somewhat likable. On the flip side of the coin we have Charles Grodin giving her a very Charles Grodin performance and it stinks. I was annoyed by every scene of his. I found myself focusing on how much I liked his house rather than anything his awful character was saying or doing. It is a nice house, though. Walter Matthau is fun in a supporting role. Donna Dixon is bland as the love interest. If they had to go this route they should've stuck with Victoria Jackson's character. She was much more interesting and fun. But she wasn't married to the star so I guess that answers that. It's not a great comedy but an ok one. Certainly a decent time-passer.

Dan Aykroyd has fun in a fast talking con man role in this reasonably amusing but never uproarious comedy. He plays John W. Burns, Jr., a criminal who faked insanity in order to get a somewhat cushier life inside a mental institution. Burns runs amok at this place, getting it on with the secretary (Victoria Jackson) and making life miserable for his stuffy, hostile psychiatrist (David Clennon). One day he intercepts a phone call to Clennon, who's been selected to temporarily fill in for a hot shot L.A. pop psychiatrist (Charles Grodin) who's suffering from lots of stress. He pretends to be Clennon, and the hilarity ensues as he keeps up the charade in front of Grodins' associates, played by the likes of Richard Romanus, Donna Dixon (the lovely real life Mrs. Aykroyd), and Arye Gross.

You know you can't go completely wrong with a cast such as this. Everybody plays their role to the hilt, whether it's Clennon as a guy we'll love to hate, the perfectly chosen Grodin in peak grumpy form, Arye Gross as a pathological ass kisser, or Mary Gross as Grodin's wife. Aykroyd is amiable and charming and as good at ever at getting lots of dialogue out quickly. Good character actors add to the enjoyment: Mickey Jones, J.E. Freeman, David Wohl, Michael Ensign, Charles Levin, Scott Thomson, Don Stark, and others. But you have to pay close attention to catch a cameo by Chevy Chase, who'd acted for director Michael Ritchie in one of his most successful vehicles, "Fletch". It's also a joy to see veteran Walter Matthau in one of his more carefree roles, as a self styled oddball who realizes Aykroyd's secret and attempts to blackmail him.

The plotting is kind of standard, as we see the highly unorthodox and tactless Aykroyd actually become a real hit on the air while filling in for Grodin. This, however, leads to one of the better gags in the picture as Aykroyd thinks he's found the solution to following through on his promise of free therapy to Grodin's patients. The R rating does allow for some well timed (but not excessive) use of profanity - that actually made it into the trailer!

Six out of 10.

Dan Ackroyd in his prime stars as Johgn Burns, a mental asylum escapee who poses as his own shrink to travel out to La La Land and host a popular radio talk show while the regular host (Charle Grodin in his snarling prime) takes a vacation. Along the way, Ackroyd hooks up with Walter Matthau, a fellow nutjob, and the rest is sheer hilarity. Ackroyd and Matthau play off very well off one another. Ackroyd's stunning real-life wife, Donna Dixon, is along for the ride as yet another shrink. The ending feels a bit rushed and contrived, which is the only thing that keeps me from giving this film my top rating, an 8. A lost '80s gem.

Michael Ritchie makes what I call emotional comedies. The best example of this is of course The Bad News Bears which is hilarious but grounded in real humanity by Walter Matthau and the rest of the cast.

This film has a good cast and a solid script, but Aykroyd nearly ruins the film by his slapstick performance. This would have better suited by Chevy Chase who handled Ritchie's comedic style perfectly in Fletch.

I would agree with the comments already posted to this site by the previous rater.

I first stumbled across this movie back in the '80s, when I was employed at a psychiatric hospital. Unfortunately, many of the barbs aimed at the psychiatric profession do hit home. I especially enjoyed the ending, where the psychiatrist would speak thru the door to the hospitalized Grodin. Trust me, its fairly accurate.

Of course, doors at most psych hospitals are not locked, nor are straightjackets used much these days, and any hospital MUST be licensed to have a "padded room".

But a wonderfully underrated film, and certainly one that is quite amusing.

Jeff

As a fan of Dan Aykroyd, I watched this film when it was recently shown in the middle of night on TV. I wasn't expecting much, so it came as a big surprise that I loved it so much.

This is the type of film that Dan Aykroyd seems to love to make. A chance for him to 'ham it up' and not take things too seriously. If you loved him in The Blues Brothers or Ghostbusters you'll know what I mean, and you'd be wise to check out The Couch Trip.

Avid fans of Aykroyd will also have fun spotting all the tiny links to his other films in the script!

I can't describe this film without spoiling it for you, so all I can do is tell you to check it out. I can't praise this film highly enough, and it must surely be time for a DVD release!!

One of the most underrated comedies. Dan Akroyd is hilarious in this over the top role; Charles Grodin gives a performance nearly as good as in "Midnight Run;" and Walter Matthau gives a superb comedic performance in this sometimes subdued, sometimes wacky film. Akroyd and Matthau have great chemistry together....

A patient in a chicago physcriatric hospital is in a war with Doctor Baird. When he intercepts a call for Dr Baird to replace LA shrink Dr Maitlin in his practice and his radio show. Baird had been selected because he was inept enough not to put Maitlin in the shade. Burns escapes from the hospital, travels to LA and assumes Baird's identity to get the job. Issues are complicated when drifter Becker recognises Burns as a conman and tries to get in on the act.

This is an earlier version of Dolly Parton's `Straight Talk' - a straight talker gets mistaken for a radio host, gives mad advise but the public love it. This is complicated by Matthau's conman getting involved and other little subplots. The plot doesn't always convince or hold the interest but it is quite amusing at points. The ending is pure laziness as it attempts to milk a happy ending out of unlikely circumstances.

Aykroyd is well suited to his character and provides all the jokes here. Grodin and Matthau are both good but Matthau is certainly greatly underused. Really it's Aykroyd's show and everything slows down when he's not onscreen or when he's having to move the story on.

Overall this is a very standard film. It's only amusing when Aykroyd is allowed free reign, for the rest of the film it's dull at times, aimless and meandering at others. Of the famous cast, this is nobody's finest hour.

does anybody know why this movie is called the couch trip? i was just watching it and am still not sure why this title was picked the movie was very funny and its probably my favorite Dan Aykroyd performance it even beats out his Ghostbusters performance i had never heard of the movie before i seen it in a sears store i read the back and thought it sounded good so i bought and when i finally got a chance to watch it, i thought it was better than what i had originally expected. this movie rates as good as animal house and national lampoon's vacation in my mind i wish comedies that have come out lately were written as well as this one was nothing sad happens in it and the bad stuff that does happen are also funny parts if anyone else feels this way and would like to read a comedy script for a movie that doesn't have a sad situation in it email me at killer2511@hotmail.com

To say I wasn't expecting much sitting down to watch "The Couch Trip" is an understatement. I had no idea what it was about - I thought it was going to be a journey into the realm of sexuality when I heard Chevy Chase played a condom man and the movie's title involves the word "couch trip," *wink, wink.* Then I figured out that it had something to do with a mental institute and a patient escaping. My expectations dropped even lower.

I was literally expecting a grin movie - the type where you grin once and walk out feeling a bit cheated. And in a way, this is cheap comedy - it doesn't have the greatest gags, the plot is ludicrous, but you know what? I had a big dumb smile on my face the entire time I was watching it.

Dan Aykroyd plays John Burns, a patient at a mental hospital who may or may not actually be mental. He gives the psychiatrist, Lawrence Baird (David Clennon), plenty of grief and misery, which leads us to believe he is a sane person after all.

Following a little bit of a riot in the mental institute's cafeteria, Burns is awaiting a tongue-lashing from Baird in his office when the phone rings. Burns picks it up, pretends to be Baird, and finds out the caller on the other line, Harvey Michaels (Richard Romanus), wants the real Dr. Baird to come fill in for a radio shrink named George Maitlin (Charles Grodin), who is taking a vacation with his wife, Vera (Mary Gross). Michaels wants Baird so bad he has even booked him a ticket on an airplane.

Burns escapes the institute with the help of a receptionist, and drives to O'Hare. He gets Dr. Baird's ticket, gets on the plane, and eventually poses on the air as Dr. Baird. His show is a phenomenal success. "People love him!" one man says, and the other man replies, "It's because he actually cares about them."

Donald Becker (the late, great Walter Matthau) is an ex-mental patient who recognizes Burns' clothes to be confinement-issued pants and shirts. To keep him quiet, Burns promises Becker a percentage of his income. The secret is kept closed.

Meanwhile, Maitlin and his wife get in an argument. He flies home to end his vacation short and realizes that the man on his talk show is not, in fact, Dr. Baird after all, but no one believes him. He gets the real Dr. Baird, but unfortunately he has lost his ID so the police take them as nutcases and don't listen to their story.

Let me name just a few of the plot holes I noticed while watching this film: Burns poses as Dr. Baird, but is never asked for his ID, even when claiming his plane ticket (he was robbed, he says, but they would still make sure he is Baird). If Burns becomes so very famous, how come the real Dr. Baird in Chicago never heard people talking about him? Word travels. And finally, why would the police ever arrest Maitlin and Baird (the real Baird, that is) without following up on their stories?

To be frankly honest, I couldn't care less. I went into this movie with a closed mind and it surprised me - I really liked it. It entertained me. Its ideas are essentially ludicrous and not at all realistic, but Dan Aykroyd gives a truly spirited performance as a half-a-loon that makes "The Couch Trip" a trip worth taking.

3.5/5 stars -

John Ulmer