 Okay, welcome everyone to Laugh Out Loud. Hey, Bijan. Hi, Dan. We're talking tonight about a great movie, Ruthless People. Yeah, Ruthless Year. Ruthless Year, perfect. I wanna just remind everybody that you feel free to make any comments or questions or whatever through the Q&A button on the bottom of the screen. Sure, most of you are all Zoom experts now in this Ruthless Year. So please feel free to comment at any point or share any thoughts you have about the movie. You know, this was a great one. This is like a real like 80s movie. Yeah, 86, right? 86, right. This was, remember when Disney started making, they started the Touchstone label to make adult films without having to call them Disney? So like the first one of those was Splash. Remember Splash, right, with Tom Hanks? Yes, yeah, and Daryl Hanna. And Daryl Hanna, that was the first one they ever did. And then they started getting into a whole bunch of, you know, I guess the Disney grown-up films as they like to call them. So like, you had this one, and this was right on the heels of that. There was the one right before, same year. I don't know if it was before this. I think it was with Bette Midler also, was Down and Out in Beverly Hills. Yeah, there was like a slew of Bette Midler films. Yeah, this was like Bette Midler's comeback year, like really. I mean, not that she ever really went away, but this has kind of like revitalized her career a little bit. And so like between this one in Down and Out in Beverly Hills, she was very popular. She became very popular as a comedic actress again. And what's really great is that, you know, what most people forget about this movie because it's not like there are other movies is that this was a, you know, a Zucker, Abraham Zucker movie. Guys who did Airplane and Top Secret and Kentucky Fried Movie and the police squad movies with Leslie Nielsen, like complete departure because they didn't write it. They only directed it. And so it's very different from like all the other films that they had made. And it's actually, if I'm not mistaken, the last one that they've made to date as a team, they haven't done any in several years since this one really. I think Jerry Zucker has done a few and like they've all done stuff like separately, but they haven't done anything as a team. But the reason they didn't write this one was because they had such a great screenplay from this guy. His name is Dale Lawner and he's done, he has quite a resume too. I mean, he did My Cousin Vinny. He wrote My Cousin Vinny. He wrote Dirty Rotten Scoundrels with Steve Martin. What was the other, there's another one that he wrote which was actually really good. That was in this same vein, which I actually have to look up because I remember him thinking, oh my God, no, he wrote that. And you know, it's so funny because it's so less tongue in cheek than a lot of the previous films that they've done. Totally. I thought was kind of nice because what I really enjoyed about it was kind of the plot and how the plot kind of twists and turns and you're not really expecting what's going to happen next with this whole kind of group of wacky, you want to- Oh, he wrote, he also wrote Blind Date, which I don't know if anybody remembers Blind Date. That was the first movie, that was Bruce Willis's first starring role in a movie. Like right after he was doing television and right before Die Hard, he did Blind Date, which is a really funny movie that nobody seems to remember. Kim Basinger was in that. Oh, you haven't seen it. Oh my God, it was hysterical. I mean, it was not quite as good as this one but it was still really, I mean, the guy had a great sense of humor. And yeah, I remember taking a screenplay class and this is one of the examples that they used because it was constructed so perfectly because you've got all the different storylines and they're all in just as you've got the story of her being kidnapped and him so happy about that. You've got the blackmail thread. You've got the fact, what's happened with her while she's kidnapped and how he keeps daring them to kill her. And then you've got the bit with the police commissioner and then they tie it up with the guy who's the serial killer and even though it's like absurd, it all fits together. Like you go, oh, sure. Yeah, yeah, it does a very great job of suspending the disbelief, because you're right along with it. It's so funny and Bill Pullman, this is Bill Pullman's first movie. And all the 80s references, I mean, he's supposed to be, he dresses like the Miami Vice in the Miami Vice wardrobe and his gold is fishing in Crockett and Tubbs. If you watch that now, if you don't know what Miami Vice is, if you've never seen Miami Vice, you have no idea what that is. Yeah, and what was it? The artwork throughout his, like the design of it. And you know, it's interesting because the opening credits are also so stylized like that. And I'm pretty sure the cartoon on that is the same guy who did the like, Sesame Street would do little vignettes in between. And I'm pretty sure it's the same cartoonist, so. I think it is. That guy did a lot of, he actually did a ton of opening credits for films. Like, I think the last one that he did that I remember was he did George of the Jungle. Oh, really? Remember the opening of George of the Jungle, the cartoon that was the opening? Yeah. I think it's the same guy. Wow. But yeah, he was great. And you know, and the whole idea, it's like such a relatively simple idea that like, you know, she's kidnapped and he doesn't care. And in fact, he like, he's trying to get to the killer. He's like, yeah, they interviewed, I mean, Dale Lawner, I mean, you know, I don't know if he's still working. He's probably, I think he's probably close to 70 by now. But like, they asked him one time, they said, you know, where did you get the idea from it? Because there's a 19th century short story, like by Oh Henry that everybody had to read in high school. I remember we had to read a lot of Oh Henry in high school. And one of his more famous stories was about a similar thing where a guy's son gets kidnapped and the father's like, he's a pain in the ass, keep him. Like, I don't want, you know, I don't want him. And so they said, oh, well, obviously you must have based that on that story. And he said, he goes, well, I've read it. And you know, it was like, I read it years ago. He's like, maybe subconsciously I was thinking about it. He's like, but I wasn't deliberately referencing it, you know, when I was sitting down to write it. And it's just, it's just so perfect. Because like, you know, nobody, I mean, Danny DeVito plays like the smarmy, like Weasley character, like so well, like his whole career is playing but those types of people. So that when he does the whole bit with the dog and when he's trying to mislead the cops and it's like, you know, and then so then when we get to the end and she starts beating the crap out of him. I mean, it's so, it has so many great moments that like just all intersect together. Yeah. The sex jokes with the police chief were just, those had been stitches because it was funny. It was almost a throwaway. I mean, that whole bit with the police chief. The whole thing with the police chief is that like, I mean, it's almost a throwaway bit, but like it works, it fits in so well, you know, that, you know, he was like, oh my God, the things. How could you do that? He's like, everybody needs to do it. And you realize that like, you know, he was recording it and he never actually watched or saw it. So like, he doesn't realize he can't bring himself to look. So he's like, he's like, oh, I can't even, it's too horrible, it's too horrible. And it's not what they think it is. And then how that ends up saving them in the end because like, what would have nailed him, you know, when he's under investigation himself, because when they realize that he's deliberately like, you know, not paying the ransom or he's like sabotaging it. And then how they set it up and he gets away, I mean, aside from when she like beats the crap out of him, like he gets away, you know, the police don't arrest anybody because they think it was the serial killer guy, he was dead. And like, it's just every note gets paid off in the end. Like, it all works out that way. And I guess like, they said that when the movie came out, like that Bette Miller and Danny DeVito like thought it was gonna be horrible. Like they just thought it was gonna be like a disaster. And like, and their careers were gonna be over. And it ended up being a huge hit. So like everybody loved it, but they thought, oh my God, what have we done? And you know, in 20 minutes they went, they went from being like, exiting in 20 minutes into the premiere, they were like, we're dead. Yeah, apparently this was like the, one of the really big summer movies of 1986. Now, I don't remember because I was all of two, I remember. Do you remember, was it like very well? Well, cause you know why? I mean, a big part of it was also the soundtrack because they really, I mean, like MTV was still MTV and was still playing music. You know, and so they had, they had like a lot of big names on the soundtrack that got a lot of airplay, the videos got a lot of airplay on MTV. So, you know, it was like Mick Jagger and Billy Joel. And like, they were like, so it was all over the place. Like it was in heavy rotation, that stuff. So, like, I mean, you couldn't escape it. They actually originally, you know, they wanted, before they cast Badmiddler, they were gonna cast Madonna. Yeah, which is crazy. Which is crazy. Cause Madonna had done desperately seeking Susan, which was like her big movie breakthrough. Like, I think it was the year before. I think that was 85 also. And then, but it would have been, it would have been so wrong because like, I mean, apparently she was cast and then she didn't get along with the, with Zucker, Abram, Hamz and Zucker. So they ended up not using her. But like, I mean, the whole point of it is that, he wants her dead. Like, you know, so like, you wouldn't want Madonna dead. You'd want Madonna back. Yeah. Yeah. So like he, so like- That's not a word. Yeah, right. It's like fortuitous that she didn't, she ended up not getting the part. But I think that like, you know, I mean, it's so, it's so, you know, there's a couple of other films that have similar themes to it. Like there's a British movie called Too Many Crooks, which is kind of similar. But there's also this Jennifer Aniston movie, which is called, oh shoot, I'm blanking on the name of it now. It's called like Life of Crime or something like that. Yeah, Life of Crime. I vaguely remember that movie. Which is like, almost the exact same plot where like this woman gets kidnapped and her husband doesn't want to get kidnapped. But it's a drama, right? It's like a very, it's like a kind of a serious drama. Yes, I've seen it, yeah. And it's, yeah, you remember it? And it's such like a 180 from this because the whole idea that like, he doesn't want her back to me is hysterical. Like, you know, of course, like, you know, oh my God, he's gonna inherit her fortune. And, you know, and when they keep dropping the price and he's trying to sound, you know, Judge Reinhald is trying to sound tough, you know? The great moment about that, do you remember when he's talking about how they have to be like really vicious and mean? And he picks up the spider and he's gonna like let it out. Yeah, and then he goes back out, he goes back out and he stomps on it because he realizes that he just did the exact opposite of what he was talking about. Like, all of that stuff, I remember the class. Like, all of that stuff is in the script. Like, it's not even ad-libbed, it was all in there. Like, so the guy really, I mean, the attention to detail that he had was phenomenal. And, you know, I mean, I guess because it wasn't that gag a minute type style, people could really like get into it. And you think about the cast. I mean, like, aside from the leads, you have, you know, Bill Pullman, it was obviously Bill Pullman's first movie, but Anita Morris, you know, who plays his girlfriend, the one who's like kind of, she's seeing Danny DeVito, but she's gonna double-cross him and blackmail him. Yep, yep. So like, she was this great character actress and she was, she actually, when they made it into this, they made Ruthless People into a TV show that was on for like, I mean, six minutes. I mean, it was like, it was barely on, but they cast her in the Bette Midler Hall on television. So she played the part on TV, even though she was a different actor character in the movie. And like what everybody kind of remembers about her, she like, if I remember correctly, she passed away, like really not too long after the movie came out because she had cancer, but she was in, she was in this like really like, like racy Rolling Stones video from like the early 80s. And that's how she like, that's how she, most people remember her because it was, you know, it was MTV and it was this. And so like, she was in this Rolling Stones video and that's like how she knew Mick Jagger and Mick Jagger did the theme song for Ruthless People. So it's like, you know, there's a lot of different, a lot of different connections for that. And you remember the part where she's watching like the wrestling, the wrestling segment when she's watching TV. Yep, yeah. And they had, you know, they had Vince McMahon doing the voice for that. So like, it's all these like, it's all these like little references. It was like, it was so cool. I mean, I remember like, you know, Judge Reinholt. I mean, Judge Reinholt, like who, if people remember Judge Reinholt now, it's because like he was on, he was on that episode of Seinfeld, right? He was the close talker on Seinfeld, but like he was in the 80s, you know, he was in Fast Times in Ridgemont High, he was in Beverly Hills Cop, he was in this one. Like Judge Reinholt was like this huge actor. Yeah, he was in a lot of stuff. And he just kind of disappeared. Like he showed up on Seinfeld and everybody was like, oh yeah, that guy, I remember him. And it was awesome. I mean, I noticed like when I was looking at the IMDB, they were talking about before about how so many people in this movie ended up on Seinfeld. Like Helen Slater was on Seinfeld, Bette Midler was on Seinfeld. So the, and the scene where she, remember the scene where she throws the coffee cup at him, or Bette Midler throws the coffee cup at him and hits him in the face? Yeah. So that's like the reversal of the scene towards the end of Fast Times in Ridgemont High, when he throws coffee in the face of the robber. They were referencing that. I mean, it's really, I mean, it is like a textbook, like perfect, like 80s comedy, you know. Yeah, and it being touchstone, which as you said was Disney's way of hiding adult, right? Like they did the Huey and Dewey master, or like a nod to it being a Disney actually corporate production or something like that. Yeah, that. And there's a point where he comes in. You remember there's a scene where Danny DeVito's singing, he's singing Zippity Duda. Oh yes, yeah. Cause he's so happy. I mean, there's all these little bits, like the bit with the dogs is great, where he buys the Doberman to kill the other dog. Yeah, the little poodle. And to me, like the guys who were hilarious also are the cops. Like the cops are hysterical in this movie. Like when he finds the wet spot on the carpet, he tastes it and he says, oh, that's the dog. She's not properly trained. He's like, no, no, no. He goes, that's not it. Cause like he would know, that's how, you know, like that's what it is. The dog, the dog's a little diabetic. And my personal favorite bit is at the end when they had Bill Pullman, like when he, when Bill Pullman shows up to like rob him, take the red zone and he says, this might be the stupidest human being on the case. Should we shoot him? And I mean, the cops were great. I mean, it was so, it's such a perfect screenplay. And it's like, it's one of those, it's rare that you find them like that because there's always like some kind of glitch or some kind of thing that doesn't like make sense. But everybody's so totally believable. And, and you know, and the fact that that midler is, you know, so she starts off being so spoiled and like, oh, you know, he worships the ground I walk on and he's popping champagne. I've seen where he can't even, remember the scene where he can't even, he's so like honest. He can't even like, the guy comes in to buy the speakers and he can't. Yeah, he can't sell them the crap. He can't upsell them. And he's the bad, he's supposed to be the bad guy. Yeah, I mean, so many, so many great moments with this one. I mean, it was really great. You know, I know that we normally have clips that we play for these and we couldn't, we couldn't find the quality. Yeah, they all unfortunately looked like they were recorded on a potato. Yeah, they probably were, you know, and it's a shame because, you know, this is not one of those, you know, we always try to find these types of movies that, you know, fly under the radar a little bit and are not really top of mind in people's memories. But, you know, I think that like everybody, I recommend this movie every chance I get when someone says, ah, what's something that I haven't seen in a while that's really funny that I'll like, you know, it's only, it's only an hour and a half. Like they don't make an hour and a half movies anymore. Yeah, it was really, really good. And, you know, I was lucky because this was one of the first, I think Laugh Out Loud series where I hadn't seen, no, actually Clue, I hadn't seen Clue before when we did that. But, you know, I hadn't seen this one either. So it was really nice to kind of just, you know, enjoy it for the first time. And, you know, especially cause it was from 1986, you always wonder, oh, is this gonna, you know, still be funny? Is the story gonna still be good? Is it still gonna be, you know, like relatable? And it totally was. I really like, I watched it a little bit with my wife, too. When, you know, she usually just doesn't, isn't interested at all, but she really watched a good amount of it with me. Because I think right from the first scene, it's really engrossing. It's like, you're like, wait, what's going on? And then you're like, what? And- I mean, you know what's funny is that, and I, someone else commented about this, like to me the other weekend, I think it's true, like so many of those movies that they made in that, like, in that, like, I mean, you know, the Reagan years, you know, for lack of a better word. Like, they all have like this sort of kind of slick, not all of them, obviously, but like a lot of them are just sort of, they were churning them out like a factory. You know, it was like, it was like canned, canned sausages or whatever. Like, they were just making them for the sake of making them. And you can point, there's so many of them that you can point to that were like, oh yeah, that's just this, this, it's like this one about over here, or with this guy, same movie, but with this person. And, and you know, I mean, look at the movies that Pet Midler made right after this one. She still made a bunch of films, but they were all like, I mean, I hate to use the word disposable, but they don't stand out from each other at all. They're like, I mean, they're funny. Like, you know, they're good for like maybe a diversion or like the one that I always think of, which should have been, you remember, you probably don't remember. Do you remember The Secret of My Success? Did you ever see that with Michael J. Fox? No. Like the fact that he made that movie, he did Back to the Future. And then like, you know, then he did that. And I was like, why, like why you made a classic? Like now you're, you know, now you're just doing like these canned, you know, they're interchangeable, a lot of them are interchangeable, but this one is like just so out there. You know, I always love, when I, you know, I always love when people like, you know, come across me like, oh my God, did you ever see? And so like I said, I mean, I always, I always try to get like people to watch this movie if they haven't seen it, if they've never seen it. Or they haven't seen it. A Hidden Gem, which I think is really cool because it's definitely worth kind of dusting off and giving a look again. And you know, you could see why they were also so concerned about it being a flop, because I think if you, if all the things kind of didn't come together like they did, it very well have been a much worse movie, but it just, it has this really like serenity to it and this really nice meshing of like the pacing of the film, the actors, the story, the jokes, all of it, really all just comes together very well. And I think the, I think what makes this one a little different and better than the rest. And I actually thought about this when I was like referencing and I realized that down and out in Beverly Hills and come out the same year, was that like both of those movies, they're not embracing like that attitude, they're like making fun of it. Like they're not, it's not like Wall Street and like all that stuff, greed is good, that they're completely like satirizing it and like making fun of it. And I think that's what, you notice like maybe not consciously at first, but like that's noticeable that like they're not glorifying all of this, they're making fun of it. And especially, I haven't seen down and out on Beverly Hills in a long time, but that was like a really great, it's a little offbeat also, but like the idea that, here are these people who are like the nouveau rich living in California, like this one, and like the attitudes that they present are just so completely out of it. It's because, well, is it because they're rich or it was because they weren't always rich or is it because like, they think they have to behave a certain way because they're rich or, you know, and he's, you know, Danny DeVito and this one is, you know, it's like, it's the shark, you know, like who's gonna be the corporate killer and, you know, he gets his color, you find out he's not the wealthy one, he is, you know, it's like it's all her money and he's a crook and he's a thief and then, you know, but he's, even he doesn't, you know, he doesn't get blackmail like because the moron on the other end, you know, like never check the tape and so, you know, and when things hinge on, like usually in screenplays, when things hinge on a coincidence, it usually kind of makes it like the whole idea that like it's the police commissioner who's on the tape and they send the tape to the police. And it just happens to be the same guy, like a lot of times instances like that, like that's where everybody goes, oh, come on. Like, but in this one, you just, like you just totally roll with it because like, of course it's the same guy. Like, it wouldn't be right if it wasn't the same guy. And that's how we tied everything together. Like, every reference comes back, like, you know, to, you know, when the dogs end up becoming friends or something like that. I mean, like all those things that like, just kind of like converge back. It's such a great movie. So I hope everybody who joined us tonight or who's watching and streaming, if you haven't seen it, you absolutely should see it. And if you did see it, I hope that it brought back, if you've seen it before, some really great memories. And if you haven't seen it before, that you've now found another favorite to some kind of pop on when you, you know, one of those rainy days when you needed diversion. So it's a good movie for that too. And it's free. I mean, that's what was awesome to me is you can actually just Google it and. Yeah, it's available for free. I think. No commercials. Like you can just watch it, which is, I mean, I'm shocked that Disney values it that highly that they make it available for free. But okay, you know, take advantage of that. Great. Well worth it for more. Yeah, definitely, definitely well worth it. So what do we got coming up? We haven't, we don't have anything on the schedule for November yet. We are going to do this. We're going to be back in November with a title TBD. What do we got? You've got classic Tuesdays coming up. That's right. Classic Tuesdays next week. We're doing the candidate with Robert Redford for some stupid reason. We thought we'd pick a political movie around this time of year, which is a great. I mean, if you've never seen the candidate, it's a total satire on politics and both sides skewers everybody the same. And on Monday, oh, Monday we have our author talk with the, we're talking about the book, Good Night Beautiful with the author Amy Maloy and it's moderated by Elizabeth Weed, who has done some great sessions with us with office. So if anybody's interested, they can check that out. And then check out our website. We've got some film streaming. What do we have up still? We've got quite a few things. Yeah, tomorrow we actually have White Riot open, which is a really cool concert film about punk rock in London and a big concert for kind of stopping Margaret Thatcher. Who wasn't stopping Margaret Thatcher? I think it was, if I'm not, if I read the description correctly, it's the concert. There was an organization called, I mean, I don't know who remembers this, but in Britain, there was a group called Red Wedge and like a lot of the punk groups and the mods, like the jam and bands like that were all participants. And I think this is the concert that they held to, it's like an anti... Yeah, it's an anti-Nazi group. Well, I think it's also anti-Nazi because they were talking about the rise of, you know... Yeah, nationalism and the Nazi group, so... It's like late 70s, early 80s, yeah. Give it a watch, watch the trailer. It should be interesting. And I think the following week, we have Ham on Rye opening, which... Ham on Rye, that's right. It looks like a really cute coming of age comedy. It reminds me a lot of the like kind of American pie, Napoleon Dynamite type, you know, film. So if you're into that, definitely check that out. And... Yeah, we got some good stuff and we're gonna keep trying. Now, hopefully we'll be able to reopen. You know, I know we've been saying that for a while. It's not on us anymore. It's... We're almost ready to reopen. You know, we just gotta get the go ahead and all our safety protocols are in place. And we can actually... We are doing a few things in the cafe. So if you're interested, you should definitely check out our website. We have... And the green next door, next to the theater. We have Bruce Sabbath. Oh, that's right, Saturday. This is coming Saturday. We have an outdoor concert on the lawn with Bruce Sabbath doing songs from classic movies, cabaret style, which should be a lot of fun. You can bring your own blankets and chairs and we have food for sale from the cafe. So lots of really cool things coming up. Stay on our website. If you're not subscribed to our email newsletter, please subscribe. Yeah, if you've got some questions for our next film, that's right. Stay with our way and we'll consider it. That's right. We take requests and we also... And please, if you're so inclined, consider making a donation, bedforplayhouse.org. Any amount is helpful to get us through. Folks have been very, very generous to us during this period that we've been closed for social distancing. So we rely on the good wishes of the community to keep doing this kind of stuff. And thank you to everybody who's donated. And we hope that those of you who haven't will consider donating or becoming a member. There are member benefits that you can get for certain programs that we do. So we hope that you'll all consider that. And thanks for tuning in. Have a good night, ruthless year. I like that. I'm gonna remember that. Good night, everybody.