Madhouse (1990) Orion/Comedy RT: 90 minutes Rated PG-13 (language, sexual conversation, comic violence, drug references) Director: Tom Ropelewski Screenplay: Tom Ropelewski Music: David Newman Cinematography: Dennis C. Lewiston Release date: February 16, 1990 (US) Cast: John Larroquette, Kirstie Alley, Alison La Placa, John Diehl, Jessica Lundy, Bradley Gregg, Dennis Miller, Robert Ginty, Wayne Tippit, Paul Eidling, Aeryk Egan, Deborah Otto. Box Office: $21M (US)
Rating: **
You pretty much know what to expect from the comedy Madhouse when you see its two leads are TV sitcom stars. John Larroquette (Night Court) and Kirstie Alley (Cheers) play a suburban couple up to their necks in unwanted houseguests. It’s a 90s update of The Man Who Came to Dinner except the guests are more obnoxious than eccentric. It’s a premise loaded with unlimited comic possibilities but writer-director Tom Ropelewski (Look Who’s Talking Now) makes no effort to raise it above the level of a mediocre made-for-TV movie. It’s little more than a series of gags about harried homeowners, annoying houseguests and a cat that won’t stay dead. At best, it’s mildly amusing, VERY mildly.
Mark and Jessie Bannister lead an idyllic life in California. He’s a successful stockbroker; she’s a popular TV reporter. They have a nice home in a quiet suburb. Their only real problem is remembering to jiggle the handle after using the toilet. Then Mark receives a letter from a cousin he hasn’t spoken to in years. He’s coming to L.A. with his wife and wants to stay with them. The problem is the letter arrived late. Cousin Fred (Diehl, Stripes) and wife Bernice (Lundy, Caddyshack II) are due to arrive TODAY. They turn out to be a real handful. She’s pregnant and he’s recently unemployed meaning they have no money. It’s only supposed to be a five-day visit, but we all know that won’t be case. Madhouse, if nothing else, is completely predictable from start to finish.
Sure enough, a fall causes Bernice to be confined to a bed for the duration of her pregnancy. She’s an even worse patient than a guest. Then Jessie’s gold-digging sister Claudia (La Placa, TV’s Duet) shows up on their doorstep after her Middle Eastern husband kicks her out and cuts her off financially. She’s followed by her son Jonathan (Gregg, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3), a seemingly perfect young man who’s anything but. Then Mark and Jessie accidentally burn down their next door neighbor Dale’s (Ginty, Exterminator 1 & 2) house with their BBQ grill. In order to avoid a big lawsuit, they’re forced to open their already crowded house to him and his two terrible children, teen daughter Katy (Otto) who can’t stay off the phone for longer than it takes to find an outlet and son CK (Egan, Flatliners) who’s obsessed with killing things and blowing stuff up. As the guests take over the house and their lives, the Bannisters struggle to keep a grip on their sanity. It’s a losing battle.
I saw Madhouse at the movies on a double bill with the sleazy exploitation flick Streets (that was no prize either). Because I got two lame movies for the price of one, the hit on my wallet didn’t sting as much. Still, it felt like a wasted effort leaving the house to see a movie I could have easily waited to rent on video. That being said, there are a few scattered chuckles throughout Madhouse. But for every half-assed chuckle, there are ten gags that fall flat. Some, like Bernice’s cat projectile vomiting in the car, are in very poor taste. That’s the cat that won’t stay dead. No matter how many times they bury him, he always comes back. He uses up at least four of his nine lives. What is this, Pet Sematary? The closest I came to actual laughter is the scene where the kitty ODs on cocaine. Another chortle-worthy moment is the obscenity CK mows on his hosts’ lawn, one that can be seen by a police helicopter later in the movie. Of course, the best part of Madhouse is when the Bannisters have finally had enough and set out to regain control of their house and lives. Boy, do they ever lose it!
Truthfully, Madhouse isn’t a bad movie, just a mediocre one. Slight and inconsequential, it’s the kind of movie you wait to see on cable TV and you know they’ll run it about 1000 times. I’ll give it credit for its high energy level. The jokes might be tired, but the movie isn’t lazy. Ropelewski keeps it brief and the cast moving non-stop. They go at their performances with complete comic conviction. Most of them play characters that, on a good day, are merely annoying. Lundy has the best time playing a woman best described as Peg Bundy’s evil sister. The two leads are okay with Alley (who was still hot in ’90) faring slightly better for playing to her strengths. She has a way with meltdowns.
But for all the effort put into it by the cast, the screenplay really lets them down. Ropelewski gives his characters almost nothing interesting to do. Oh, they keep moving, but they’re moving in place. I think with a bit more edge and creativity, he could have had something with Madhouse. Instead, it’s just another insignificant 90s comedy best seen on TV.
