The Ratings Game

This satire on the TV industry is too much of it, with mountains of cheesy plot-driven dialog set to the accompaniment of hyper-cheesy music. But mixed in are some great gags--one of the best is a sight gag, when Gerrit Graham walks back on stage at the MBC confab, to continue plumping his network's new shows against a devilishly appropriate freeze-frame from one of them. Much of the value now is to have fun seeing all kinds of talent before, between, or after the high points of their careers. Casting wise, this show could pick 'em.

The strongest element here is the apt satire. Alas, the laughs are not frequent enough, or intense enough, to really sustain the effort. The movie in the end is a cheese dog, but the stars play it cute, and it's fun. Five stars for wide and deep star power, far transcending the script.

"The Ratings Game" is the first made for Showtime film and it's an over-the-top film...the sort that might make you laugh but also is pretty dopey.

Vic (Danny DeVito) is a rich guy who has dreams of being a TV producer. But he's also a talentless clod who doesn't know the first thing about making TV shows. Not surprisingly, again and again he's rejected by the networks because his ideas are, frankly, terrible. However, when a network exec is fired, he okays a TV pilot starring Vic....mostly out of a desire for revenge.

As for Vic, he's a guy who comes up with a scheme. It seems his girlfriend (Rhea Perlman) works for Computron...a Nielsen-type service that monitors TV viewing for the networks. Using her inside information, Vic and his associates track down a hundred of these families whose viewing is monitored. He arranges for these families all to have a free cruise...during which time, Vic's men break into the familys' homes and watch Vic's show....giving it incredibly high ratings despite the show being crude and stupid. But the problem is that when the show is a hit, the network wants to buy the show and make Vic a star....so this means keeping these unfortunate families on an extended cruise! What's next? See the film.

The acting in this one is very broad as is the writing. It's funny and insightful while ALSO being rather dopey. My daughter watched it with me and hated it. I thought that despite everything, it is cute and worth seeing....but I do agree the film was a bit stupid.

It's fun to see each person do their best. None of the acting is bad. The story is a little, well, seeing it once is good enough. I watched it while I was doing some of the work and we enjoyed a couple bits. I'm much happier that I watched it then if I didn't.

I had heard about this movie on an episode of Nostalgia Critic. He had been critical of some of DeVito's directorial efforts with the exception of The War of the Roses but did positively re-review some and this was included. This is technically DeVito's directorial debut but since it premiered on Showtime cable network Throw Momma from the Train has been mostly regarded as his first directorial effort as that got a theatrical release.

This was three years prior and while DeVito made better films as director including the aforementioned and Matilda this still shows he had a natural filmmaking and acting quality along with Woody Allen, Charlie Chaplin and Clint Eastwood.

The story may seem slight to some but DeVito brings a lot of freshness and humor to the story that makes it feel very original and very funny.

Because they were married in real life he always had good chemistry with Rhea Perlman he did here and then over a decade later in Matilda.

Here however there is a genuinely sweet and funny romance to their characters which was more dysfunctional in Matilda but here it works really well.

Great cameos by Jerry Seinfeld, (still a rising star) Seinfeld's co-star Michael Richards, George Wendt the recently deceased and Perlman's Cheers co-star, Steve Allen and many other great character actors.

DeVito did get better as a filmmaker in subsequent efforts with a little more meat to his stories but this first effort is anything but boring nor is it badly acted. It's very much the opposite.

I really enjoyed this film and any DeVito or Hollywood insider fan should give this a stream.

Again not his finest directorial effort but still a great start nonetheless and a charming, fun little comedy with good dialogue, wit and performances.

I just watched this for the first time in 2022, and I think this was one of those movies people saw but then forgot about, or never saw to begin with (ironic, considering the plot), because it's a very good movie.

Actually, it's a great movie, but I won't spoil it.

I think this is a movie that a lot of people will still want to watch even today, though, especially considering the cast (Danny DeVito, etc.).

Just watch it.