Ruthless People (1986) Touchstone/Comedy RT: 93 minutes Rated R (language, strong sexual content, crude humor, slapstick violence, adult situations) Director: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker Screenplay: Dale Launer Music: Michel Colombier Cinematography: Jan de Bont Release date: June 27, 1986 (US) Cast: Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Judge Reinhold, Helen Slater, Anita Morris, Bill Pullman, Art Evans, Clarence Felder, William G. Schilling, J.E. Freeman. Box Office: $71.6 million (US)
Rating: ****
Ruthless People is, in my opinion, one of the funniest movies ever made! Loosely based on The Ransom of Red Chief, a short story by O. Henry, it’s a wild and wacky tale of Sam Stone (DeVito, Throw Momma from the Train), a rich clothing manufacturer who plans to kills his shrewish wife Barbara (Midler, The Rose). He describes his plans to his mistress Carol (Morris, Blue City) and how he hates everything that Barbara does including the way she licks stamps and her awful taste in furniture. The idea is that once Barbara is dead, Sam will finally get his hands on her money. He arrives at their mansion, ready to do the deed, when he receives a phone call from a man who tells him that he has kidnapped Barbara. He demands $500,000 in ransom and further explains that if Sam doesn’t follow his instructions precisely, Barbara will be killed. Could the situation be any more perfect?
The kidnapper tells Sam not to inform the police or the media. Naturally, Sam has his home swarming with cops and reporters within minutes. The kidnappers, Ken (Reinhold, Beverly Hills Cop) and Sandy (Slater, Supergirl), are two of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. Sam stole Sandy’s idea for the Spandex Mini-Skirt and their life savings; they want what’s owed to them. Unfortunately, they’ve chosen the worst person to kidnap. Barbara is one of the most horrible people in the world. She’s a screaming, abusive loudmouth who makes life a living hell for the two amateur criminals. Not only that, Sam doesn’t want her back. He refuses to pay the ransom even when they lower their price to $50,000.
Meanwhile, Carol has self-serving plans of her own. She schemes with her dim-witted boyfriend Earl (Pullman, Independence Day) to blackmail Sam with an incriminating videotape of him committing the murder. Of course, Earl tapes the wrong thing which leads to all sorts of misunderstandings and confusion.
I don’t want to spoil too many of the funny moments in this wonderful screwball farce from Team ZAZ (Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker), the directors of Airplane and The Naked Gun. Lucky for it, it’s non-stop zaniness. Ruthless People has one good line after another. One of my personal favorites is from Barbara, upon learning her ransom price has been reduced, wails “I’ve been kidnapped by K-Mart!” There’s also a funny bit with a wrong number that Sam receives while waiting for the kidnappers to call. This movie is in my top five funniest comedies of all time; it’s really that good. Team ZAZ really knows their way around comedy; they have a natural gift for it. It’s not often that I laugh throughout an entire movie, but Ruthless People is an exception. I laughed pretty much non-stop.
One of the best things about Ruthless People is the perfect casting. DeVito makes a great nasty little guy; Sam Stone is like a more malicious version of Louie DePalma, his character in the TV series Taxi. His character is one of the nastiest people I’ve ever seen in a comedy. Barbara has a little poodle that pees all over the house, so Sam buys a big, vicious dog to eat the little dog. That’s not even the worst thing he does in this movie. Midler is dead-on perfect as Barbara; this may be her funniest role to date. Every profane thing that comes out of her mouth is dripping with venom. She really knows how to get under other people’s skin. Reinhold and Slater are terrific as the sweet couple angry enough to commit a serious criminal act, but try to be civil about it even in the face of Barbara’s barrage of insults.
Not only does Ruthless People have a stellar cast; they all play well off one another. You have to wonder how Sam and Barbara have stayed married for about 15 years. Is she that clueless she doesn’t realize that her husband despises her? Does she not realize that Sam only married her for her money? Sure, he made his own fortune with his line of clothing, but the greedy little bastard wants her money too and he’ll stoop as low as he has to in order to get it.
Of course, there’s more to Ruthless People. Things happen that only make a bad situation worse and wackier. There’s a subplot involving the chief of police (Schilling, The Island) who thinks he’s the target of Carol’s blackmail scheme. He can’t understand why Carol demands Sam’s arrest. There’s also a serial killer “The Bedroom Killer” on the loose. It’s only a matter of time before he shows up. In my opinion, there is no superfluous material. All of the plot elements come together to make one of the best screwball farces of all time. I particularly liked Earl; he’s such a dim bulb that one of the cops comments that he could be the stupidest person in the world and maybe they should just shoot him.
I remember going to see this movie with my father one night and we laughed the entire time. I couldn’t help but think what would have happened if somebody kidnapped my mother and asked for a high ransom. Knowing my father, he probably would have said “That’s too much money, keep her! Come back for the kids and dogs too! I’ll throw them in for free!” Of course, I’m being facetious here. The point is Ruthless People is hilarious. It’s excellent on every level right down to the wildly colorful set design by Anne D. McCulley. Barbara’s home furniture is truly hideous. It also has a vibrant animated opening sequence by Don Waller. It still holds up after nearly 35 years, but a funny movie is always a funny movie no matter what the year.
