gjampol
Joined Jul 2003
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gjampol's rating
One of the things that makes this movie so enjoyable is that millions of Americans can easily empathize and draw upon their own experiences with the travails of fixing up a dilapidated house.
The plot is a familiar one and follows in the footsteps (which usually collapse) of such classic films as "George Washington Slept Here," "The Egg and I" and "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House."
Shelley Long and Tom Hanks seem evenly matched as the tormented couple who suffer almost every wacky indignity and calamity imaginable. Tom Hanks has a flair for physical comedy, which he rarely got the chance to exploit in his later films. Unfortunately, except for Philip Bosco and Maureen Stapleton, the supporting players in "The Money Pit" are not in the same league as the actors who added so much flavor to films in the old studio days.
Indeed, as a classic movie buff, I find today's crop of character actors pallid in comparison with their counterparts of more than 50 years ago.
Who can forget Percy Kilbride and Hattie McDaniel as Mr. Kimber and Hester the maid in "George Washington," and Harry Shannon As Mr. Tesander, the well digger, in "Blandings"? Don't forget Donald MacBride and the coupling of Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride as Ma and Pa Kettle in "The Egg." We'll never see the likes of them again.
Still, "The Money Pit" is all good fun and very entertaining.
The plot is a familiar one and follows in the footsteps (which usually collapse) of such classic films as "George Washington Slept Here," "The Egg and I" and "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House."
Shelley Long and Tom Hanks seem evenly matched as the tormented couple who suffer almost every wacky indignity and calamity imaginable. Tom Hanks has a flair for physical comedy, which he rarely got the chance to exploit in his later films. Unfortunately, except for Philip Bosco and Maureen Stapleton, the supporting players in "The Money Pit" are not in the same league as the actors who added so much flavor to films in the old studio days.
Indeed, as a classic movie buff, I find today's crop of character actors pallid in comparison with their counterparts of more than 50 years ago.
Who can forget Percy Kilbride and Hattie McDaniel as Mr. Kimber and Hester the maid in "George Washington," and Harry Shannon As Mr. Tesander, the well digger, in "Blandings"? Don't forget Donald MacBride and the coupling of Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride as Ma and Pa Kettle in "The Egg." We'll never see the likes of them again.
Still, "The Money Pit" is all good fun and very entertaining.
With a few exceptions, I've long ago given up commercial TV. With a collection of more than 500 DVDs and access to Netflix Instant View, I'm not dependent of the networks for entertainment, although I have some TV shows in my collection.
"Friends" is among the reasons that I've abandoned commercial TV. The show goes nowhere and it lacks the tact and daring of HBOs "Curb Your Ehthusiam, " which NBC progenitor "Seinfeld" explored to great success.
Words such as "brilliant" and "awesome" have been used to describe mediocre "Friends." The program's main draw comes from male viewers who want to look at the attractive female stars, and they tune in each week to whet their sexual fantasies.
Female viewers use the female actors as to serve as models. They want to look like Courtney Cox and the others and keep up with clothing and hair trends. What takes place between is jejune filler.
I hope that foreign audiences who watch "Friends" do not assume that all American twenty-somethings live that way.
"Friends" is among the reasons that I've abandoned commercial TV. The show goes nowhere and it lacks the tact and daring of HBOs "Curb Your Ehthusiam, " which NBC progenitor "Seinfeld" explored to great success.
Words such as "brilliant" and "awesome" have been used to describe mediocre "Friends." The program's main draw comes from male viewers who want to look at the attractive female stars, and they tune in each week to whet their sexual fantasies.
Female viewers use the female actors as to serve as models. They want to look like Courtney Cox and the others and keep up with clothing and hair trends. What takes place between is jejune filler.
I hope that foreign audiences who watch "Friends" do not assume that all American twenty-somethings live that way.
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