Gatorman9 For years there was a video store I would go into and this movie was placed there in some way so that I kept seeing it every time, yet for some reason, it never spoke to me. Maybe it was the cover art (and it didn't help that the VHS case had seen better days, with just the wrong amount of dirty scratches in the wrong places, or that the insert looked faded), or maybe it was that this was before I started watching reruns of CHEERS, or maybe it was a lukewarm Rogert-Ebert-quality review I saw somewhere, or whatever, but I never rented it. However, here today, practically 30 years later, I finally took the opportunity to watch an original uncut copy of the movie I ran across on-line, and I was not disappointed.Here, Shelly Long reprises her role as Diane Chambers, except that her name is Lauren, and she is not an aspiring writer in Boston, but an aspiring actress in New York City (and parts West), and she can say f---, f------g, assh*le, and also do a fair Marisa Tomei from MY COUSIN VINNIE (even if only sporadically). Bette Midler (as others have noted) is just Bette Midler, meaning the 1980's answer to Mae West (or maybe Renee Zellweger), complete with earrings of hand grenade proportions. The two of them become unlikely allies in a quest to find their common boyfriend, who has gone mysteriously missing following an apparent misadventure. This movie also includes a rare semi-cameo appearance by George Carlin as a cross between Sherlock Holmes, Yosemite Sam, and just George Carlin, Stand-Up Man Extraordinaire, in the guise of just the sort of hippy-dippy character he essayed so well on the comedy stage. The villain is played by actor Peter Coyote, who fully lives up to his name as an example of desert vermin writ large.Some have said this is "screwball" comedy (a 1930's/40's genre) but really it reminds me more of a "madcap" comedy of the early 1960's, with that genre's looser plots and virtually obligatory scene involving the launching of virtually countless thousands of dollars in cash into a crowd (and not just once, but twice in the same movie!) The climactic sequence devolves into a kind of chase sequence, and as others on IMDb have noted, here the movie slips a little as that sequence is not as artfully crafted as the more famous ones in the history of the movies. It seems as though something was missing as far as building the tension necessary for an ideal chase scene (probably, as much as anything else, a heightened sense of Menace). Still, its basic premise is as well-conceived as probably anything ("Reckoning At Four Fingers Rocks!"), and it still pays off even though it is not as executed perhaps as well it might have been. The epilogue at the end also seemed a somewhat jarring non sequitur that is somewhat anti-climactic as well. Still, this movie is a perfectly decent comedy well-worth seeing if you are in video hell some evening or rainy Saturday afternoon looking for something to watch.

Jonathon Dabell Eclectic director Arthur Hiller gives us another movie from his "odd-couple-up-to-their-neck-in-adventure" oeuvre with Outrageous Fortune. The film has obvious similarities to Hiller's earlier hit Silver Streak, and is a clear forerunner to his See No Evil Hear No Evil. In fact, the concept of ordinary characters being caught up in international intrigue found considerable favour during the '70s and '80s – besides the three Arthur Hiller films already mentioned, there's also the likes of Hanky Panky, The Man With One Red Shoe, High Anxiety and Jumpin' Jack Flash (to name but a few).Sandy Brozinsky (Bette Midler) and Lauren Ames (Shelley Long) are members of a New York acting class. They are as opposite as can be – Sandy loud, vulgar and brash; Lauren bookish, tender and sweet. Without knowing it they are both in love with the same man, Michael Sanders (Peter Coyote). When he is seemingly killed in a mysterious explosion, the two distraught lovers discover the truth about each other… and later, when asked to identify his remains, they realise that the body in the morgue is not the Michael Sanders they've shared a bed with for the past few weeks. Thrown together by chance, Sandy and Lauren embark on a cross country odyssey to track down their mystery man. Soon they are up to their necks in international espionage as it becomes clear they are not the only ones searching for Michael Sanders – indeed, the CIA and the KGB want him just as much as they do! The film is put together very slickly, with a fast-moving plot and plenty of snappy one-liners. At this point in her career, Midler was on a hot streak in a series of smash-hit comedies (Down And Out In Beverly Hills and Ruthless People being two of the biggest). Her character here is either flat-out hilarious or horribly annoying, depending on your taste in humour. Long plays it straighter and comes across very likably as the sweeter of the two hoodwinked lovers. Once the plot twists unravel themself, the film loses steam and in its final quarter becomes a disappointingly routine chase movie like any other. But up to that point, Outrageous Fortune is a lot of fun, a feminist variation of all those buddy-buddy flicks so typical of movies from the era. It has energy, vulgarity and attitude - much like its two female protagonists – and if you're looking for an entertainingly easy way to kill 100 minutes, you could do a lot worse.

writers_reign What it lacks in originality it makes up for in chuzpah and pace. It also 'plants' key elements that will be needed in the last reel in the first reel (specifically Long being shown as accomplished in fencing and leaping). I can only agree with the poster who queried what kind of a guy would be drawn to both the personification of genteel breeding, stylish clothes, sophistication etc(as personified by Long) and the blowzy, uncouth, unpolished street-wise hooker (personified by Middler), in real life now way but this is a movie, right, so artistic license comes into play. By and large this 80s attempt at 30s Screwball keeps us interested and gives good diversion.

kibler@adelphia.net Outrageous Fortune (1987) Shelley Long, Bette Midler, Peter Coyote, Robert Prosky, John Schuck, George Carlin, Anthony Heald, D: Arthur Hiller. Hilarious comic yarn involves two opposite women who both have a fling with the same man and when he dies in an abrupt explosion, secrets unfold. Effervescent performances from Long and Midler in a perfect showcase for them both, where credibility isn't the point, making it a lot of fun. Running Time: 100 minutes and rated R for strong language and brief sensuality.RATING: *** (out of ****)