ROBERT SHACKELFORD This movie is great. It's full of stars, many before their prime. Three Dog Night allover the soundtrack. Sukie and the diner owner's sister from the Gilmore Girls pops up for a moment. The girl from Studio 54. Ben Affleck's little brother. Bette Midler who was the queen of the beloved plays a disgusting person. Danny DeVitto who normally plays disgusting is a pretty good dude. The support cast is packed full of recognizable character actors. The story is compelling. The plot is convoluted, filled with flashbacks. Yugos everywhere. The product placement is so blatant its funny in and of itself. I really appreciate how thy dare to make most of the Characters such terrible people.

[email protected] I can't understand how anyone can't find at least one redeeming quality to this movie, I think it is HILARIOUS, but maybe it's because I also live in New York, though have never driven a Yugo, but that's not the point either, LOL....you have to accept this film for what it is and was intended to be; an incredulously deep, dark comedy, in the style of the classic 'noir' only with a satirical edge and in the daytime. One has to sympathize with Sheriff Rash, wait, no, no, he's not actually a sheriff, LOL....the witty, yet gruff and banal yet exaggerated repartee, no...banter, is the element that makes this film a true comedy classic, I would equate the likes of this comedy with that of "The Birdcage", an incredulous, somewhat exasperating take on normal everyday life and the people that help to convolute it, LOL.....I love you Mona Dearly...but wouldn't miss you too terribly, LOL...see it, only have your tongue in your cheek! EXCELLENT!

mhoney-1 Maybe Danny DeVito and Bette Midler should collaborate more often. The two times they did it was comedy gold. While this movie is not as flat out hilarious as "Ruthless People," it should still be enjoyed by the same people who love that movie. It starts with a prologue stating how Verplanck, New York was the location where they decided to launch the Yugo line of cars in America. As a result, everyone in town, including the police, drives a Yugo car, and they all have catchy license plates like UGOMONA, ELLEEE, and OH RONE.As the title suggests, this black little whodunit concerns who opted to rid the small town of Verplanck of its nastiest inhabitant, the matriarchal hag Mona Dearly (Midler, who chews up every inch of the screen in her "Rashomon"-esque flashback scenes). Police Chief Wyatt Rash (Danny DeVito, playing against type as the straight man), is determined to find out, even if nobody else cares to help. It's come at a bad time, because he's trying to help his daughter Ellie (Neve Campbell) plan her big wedding to mild-mannered land-scaper Bobby Calzone (Casey Affleck), who has just ended up short-handed after his beer-guzzling partner Jeff Dearly (Marcus Thomas, the epitome of slackerdom) takes a leave of absence. Bobby also seems unnaturally concerned with the the death of a woman who meant only bad things for him.The characters, while bordering on cartoons, are played tongue-in-cheek, and you know the actors had fun doing it. There's the chain-smoking waitress Rhona Mace (Jamie Lee Curtis), who's having an affair with the deceased's husband Phil (William Fichtner, who walks away with the movie as a complete scumbag), and Bobby's overbearing brother Murph (Mark Pellegrino). The cops are just as zany, with Peter Coyote as the do-gooder lieutenant, and Paul Ben-Victor and Paul Schulze (Ryan Chapelle from "24") as a couple of bumbling idiots who seem to be good for one thing, looking out for Numbers One. There's Katherine Wilhoite as Lucinda, the lesbian folk-singer mechanic, and the great Tracey Walter is on board as the local fisherman who nobody really knows much about. Add in a foul-mouthed, alcoholic priest, and a funeral director who's also an amateur pornographer (Will Ferrell before he became huge), and it's a feast for those with a twisted sense of humor.

fedor8 Worth a few chuckles, but the film basically tries too hard to be a quirky, clever little cult comedy. Fichtner gets the best lines ("Of course you don't, I mean you do", "Yes, I was a battered husband", and another one, I forgot which), while De Vito, who is potentially the funniest in the cast, plays the straight man, which is a mistake. Instead of making him the straight man, they should have done that with Casey Affleck (Ben's wimpy brother) who comes off unfunny every time he appears in a comedic scene.The cast doesn't thrill me. There is Bette Midler, who used to be funny, while in this movie she just snarls and growls. But the absolute pits is Jamie Lee Curtis who is so ugly that I literally had to turn my head away in some scenes she was in. I mean, she has always been one of Hollywood's ugliest women (great body notwithstanding), but in this movie she even makes Laura Dern look like a woman to desire. I don't understand why they gave her that damn awful haircut - as if she weren't repulsive enough as it is! And Casey Affleck, of course, is quite untalented and bland, and a very strong argument why Hollywood should finally do the world a favour and OUTLAW NEPOTISM.If you'd like to see my Hollywood Nepotism List, with over 350 pictures/entries, contact me by e-mail.