Big Trouble | |
---|---|
Directed by | John Cassavetes |
Written by | Warren Bogle |
Produced by | Mike Lobell |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Bill Butler |
Edited by | Donn Cambern Ralph E. Winters |
Music by | Bill Conti |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 93 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Big Trouble is a 1986 American comedy film and the last film for director John Cassavetes. The cast reunites Peter Falk and Alan Arkin, co-stars of The In-Laws , and also features Beverly D'Angelo, Charles Durning and Valerie Curtin.
The film's plot is so similar to that of Double Indemnity that, prior to production, Columbia Pictures requested that Universal Pictures (rightsholder for the Paramount film Double Indemnity) grant a license to reuse the plot of the earlier film. Universal executive Frank Price, who had previously worked at Columbia, was aware that Columbia was holding onto a script called Back to the Future and made a deal to take ownership of the script. [1]
Leonard Hoffman is a Los Angeles insurance agent with a problem on his hands. He has teenage triplets who are all gifted musicians, but wife Arlene insists that the kids attend college at Yale, requiring more than $40,000 in tuition, rather than less expensive schools like nearby UCLA.
This situation is on Leonard's mind when he pays a business call to the Beverly Hills mansion of Steve and Blanche Rickey. He is met by a flirtatious and scantily clad Blanche, who explains a problem of her own: Steve is dying, with less than a week to live, but accidentally let his life insurance policy lapse.
A scheme is hatched involving a policy with a double-indemnity clause. Steve has to die in an unexpected fashion for this to happen, but he may or may not cooperate.
Andrew Bergman wrote the original screenplay and was slated to direct before Cassavetes was hired. Cassavetes disliked the film and called it "the aptly titled 'Big Trouble,'" as the studio vetoed many of his decisions and he disagreed with the manner in which the studio edited the film. Bergman said: "That was a mess. I never fixed the ending, and that was the problem. You’ve got to have it when you get it on the floor. You can’t say, 'Later, we’ll get it straight.' It’s true in every medium. You’ve got to hit the ground running, and we didn’t. I never had the ending straight.". [2] As a result, Bergman requested to be billed as Warren Bogle on the finished film.
The film had polarizing response; on Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a "Rotten" rating of 17% based on 6 reviews, with an average rating of 4.8/10. [3] On the other hand, on Metacritic, the film has a rating of 70 out of 100 based on 8 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [4]
Peter Michael Falk was an American film and television actor, singer and television director and producer. He is best known for his role as Lieutenant Columbo on the NBC/ABC series Columbo, for which he won four Primetime Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award (1973). In 1996, TV Guide ranked Falk No. 21 on its 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time list. He received a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2013.
Alan Wolf Arkin was an American actor and filmmaker. In a career spanning seven decades, he received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Tony Award as well as nominations for six Emmy Awards.
Gloria is a 1980 American neo-noir crime thriller film written and directed by John Cassavetes. It tells the story of a gangster's former girlfriend who goes on the run with a young boy who is being hunted by the mob for information he may or may not have. It stars Gena Rowlands, Julie Carmen, Buck Henry, and John Adames.
John Nicholas Cassavetes was a Greek-American filmmaker and actor. He began as an actor in film and television before helping to pioneer modern American independent cinema as a writer and director, often self-financing, producing, and distributing his own films. He received nominations for three Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and an Emmy Award.
The In-Laws is a 1979 American action comedy film starring Alan Arkin and Peter Falk, written by Andrew Bergman and directed by Arthur Hiller. It was filmed on various locations, including Mexico, which served as the film's representation of the fictional Central American setting. A remake was made in 2003.
Andrew Bergman is an American screenwriter, film director, and novelist. His best-known films include Blazing Saddles, The In-Laws, The Freshman and Striptease.
Mandingo is a 1975 American historical melodrama film that focuses on the Atlantic slave trade in the Antebellum South. The film's title refers to the Mandinka people, who are referred to as "Mandingos", and described as being good slaves for fighting matches. Produced by Dino De Laurentiis for Paramount Pictures, the film was directed by Richard Fleischer. The screenplay, by Norman Wexler, was adapted from the 1957 novel Mandingo by Kyle Onstott, and the 1961 play Mandingo by Jack Kirkland.
Slums of Beverly Hills is a 1998 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Tamara Jenkins, and starring Natasha Lyonne, Alan Arkin, Marisa Tomei, David Krumholtz, Kevin Corrigan, Jessica Walter, and Carl Reiner. The story follows a teenage girl (Lyonne) struggling to grow up in 1976 in a lower-middle-class nomadic Jewish family that relocates every few months.
State and Main is a 2000 American comedy film written and directed by David Mamet and starring William H. Macy, Sarah Jessica Parker, Alec Baldwin, Julia Stiles, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rebecca Pidgeon, David Paymer, Patti LuPone, Clark Gregg, and Charles Durning.
The Scout is a 1994 American comedy film starring Brendan Fraser and Albert Brooks and directed by Michael Ritchie.
Mikey and Nicky is a 1976 American crime drama film written and directed by Elaine May. It stars John Cassavetes as a desperate small-time mobster and Peter Falk as his longtime, childhood friend. The supporting cast features Ned Beatty, Carol Grace, Rosee Arrick, and noted acting teacher Sanford Meisner.
High Spirits is a 1988 fantasy comedy film written and directed by Neil Jordan and starring Steve Guttenberg, Daryl Hannah, Beverly D'Angelo, Liam Neeson and Peter O'Toole. It is an Irish, British and American co-production.
Husbands is a 1970 American comedy-drama film written and directed by John Cassavetes. It stars Ben Gazzara, Peter Falk, and Cassavetes as three middle class men in the throes of a midlife crisis following the death of a close friend.
Little Miss Sunshine is a 2006 American tragicomedy road film directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris from a screenplay written by Michael Arndt. The film stars an ensemble cast consisting of Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Paul Dano, Abigail Breslin, and Alan Arkin, all of whom play members of a dysfunctional family taking the youngest (Breslin) to compete in a child beauty pageant. It was produced by Big Beach Films on a budget of US$8 million. Filming began on June 6, 2005, and took place over 30 days in Arizona and Southern California.
The In-Laws is a 2003 American action comedy film starring Michael Douglas, Albert Brooks, Robin Tunney, Ryan Reynolds and Candice Bergen. The film is a remake of the original 1979 cult classic of the same name. Scenes for the 2003 film were shot on location in Chicago. The film was a box office failure and received mixed to negative reviews.
Man Trouble is a 1992 American romantic black comedy film starring Jack Nicholson and Ellen Barkin. It was directed by Bob Rafelson and written by Carole Eastman, who together had been responsible for 1970's Five Easy Pieces.
Maid to Order is a 1987 American comedy/fantasy film. It is a variation on the Cinderella formula, where the fairy godmother is not the means to a better life for the heroine, but rather the nemesis. Though rather than doing so out of malice, the fairy godmother hopes to teach the heroine that life has more of importance than financial security.
Julian Schlossberg is an American motion pictures, theatre and television producer. He has been a college lecturer and television host regarding films, as well.
National Lampoon's Vacation film series is a comedy film series initially based on John Hughes' short story "Vacation '58" that was originally published by National Lampoon magazine. The series is distributed by Warner Bros. and consists of five main films, two of which are not sponsored by National Lampoon, and one spin-off. In recent years, the series has been the inspiration for various advertising campaigns featuring some of the original cast members. The series portrays the misadventures of the Griswold family, whose attempts to enjoy vacations and holidays are plagued with continual disasters and strangely embarrassing predicaments.
Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders is a 2000 American direct-to-video animated science fiction romantic comedy mystery film. It is the third direct-to-video film based on Scooby-Doo Saturday morning cartoons. The film was produced by Warner Bros. Animation in association with Hanna-Barbera. It is the third of the first four Scooby-Doo direct-to-video films to be animated overseas by Japanese animation studio Mook Animation. Unlike the previous films and despite the grimmer atmosphere, it has a lighter tone since it's real monsters that are on Mystery Inc.'s side and the disguised human beings are the main villains.