Fire Sale

Unreleased at first in the cinema in Australia, this absolutley demented farce sat on the shelf until after Arkin's original THE IN LAWS came out and was a hit here. Then Fox decided to give it a run and it was lukewarm. Pity, as a raucous Jewish comedy is is a pretty good one and anyone into anarchy as comedy (Big Store, Duck Soup, Where's Poppa, etc) will enjoy the screaming antics of a very fractured extended family. I think it ended up on a double bill with maybe Mel Brooks' THE PRODUCERS or something like that which matched the mugging and screaming. At my holiday resort cinema in that period we would show it on student nights and get a good reaction. Kids and old Jews loved it though.

Like many of the previous reviewers, I only ever saw this movie once, and that was a long, long time ago (again like them). But even though I was only a teenager, where for me the world of the US East Coast Jews may as well have been on another planet, what gags I did understand (and I realized that there were many, many gags that I didn't!) were exceptionally funny. Leonard_M - loosen up a little. The movie IS funny.

From the second the movie starts in the dark w/ the (noise) of a blowdryer, warming up the cold toilet seat, till the very end I loved this movie. I'm sorry that I've never seen it on TV or in the video stores. The comedy just kept on coming and coming. Here it is 1999 and I seen it in 1977, it's my favorite comedy of all times. I only wish that I could share it with my family now.

Four stars? - give me a break!

I was thrilled and amused when I saw this as a kid - so many unconventional scenes, so many people who don't behave ...

Alright this is not that entertaining for people of today who have lost any attention span. And it's not as brilliantly made as "Where's Poppa?", also written by Robert Klane, but it does have its moments, i.e. most scenes that Arkin and Gardenia are in. Reiner is pretty inept here as usual, though. Kay Medford is very good as a Mother out of touch with reality. A good cast in general.

Some scenes lack a better execution but on the whole this is an original idea that has several subplots which are nicely tied up. Greed, ineptness, dysfunctional families, madness and irritation manifest themselves in many different ways.

Most locations are pretty "awful" by today's viewing habits but that is the exact charm of this movie as opposed to all the slick and sterile over-produced forgettable comedies of today. The settings make this movie look "real" and might tend to make people uneasy about the story because it seems people don't really get their way - no matter how they try. That makes for good comedy because this is how life is when you constantly overreach: You make a fool of yourself.

The main problem with this seems to be that the ideas are funny but better production and direction would not have hurt. This could very well be remade but I doubt people today want to see anyone on the screen who is over 40 years old... And that is pathetic.

This movie was definitely overlooked as a classic. Strange, yes; bizzare, oh yes! but funny if you have a strange sense of humor. Monty Python and Benny Hill fans may like the strange and off-beat humor of this movie, other humor fans may be wondering what this is about. The secret is that what you see is what you get: what you see on the screen is what this movie is about. This is a disfunctional family before the term became fashionable. I loved the characters' goofiness, and the way that the actors portrayed them. Alan Arkin, Vincent Gardenia, and Rob Reiner were the "stars" of this movie, but they wouldn't have gone anywhere without the supporting cast of characters. Uncle Sherman, Marian, Ruthie,and of course, Captain F#@k, rounded out the chaacters. Not getting into the plot of the movie (which there was none, really) : there was no stoy plot or character arc - it was just fun and goofy comedy. I just wish it was offered on VHS or DVD!