blrnani It's not often that a remake manages to be even better than a classic original, but this reworking of Mr. Blandings for a more modern context definitely hits the nail on the head. Tom Hanks is hilarious in that underplayed TH manner and his relationship with Shelley Long, as they chase their dreams, is delightful. As an added bonus, it also provides a useful list of things to beware of when buying a house. This is one of my favourite films and I strongly recommend it.

Blueghost I saw this opening night with a couple of friends, and I really didn't care much for it. The timing is just off on all the gags, and the dialogue really doesn't have a whole lot of punch to it.There's a lot of salesmanship in terms of the directing and acting, but there's little in the way of comic genius here. It reminds me of some of the old comedies in the 1960s where things were done with a kind of light heartedness but there were no jokes as such, just things framed as jokes in hopes that it would tickle the audiences' funny bone.And that's about all you can say about this film some thirty years after the fact. I like Hanks and Long as actors, and even the rest of the cast do their best, but comedy really takes a certain kind of genius, and this thing just doesn't have that.There's not much more to add here other than if you're looking for comedy, then check something else out. As per my previous reviews about comedies in the 1980s, something sociologically went extremely wrong in that decade when it came to making feature comedies for the commercial film market, and this film is a fit example of that.Watch at your own risk.

Predrag "The Money Pit" is an underrated, romantic, slapstick comedy. A young couple Tom Hanks and Shelley Long are very much in love with each other and want to buy the home of their dreams. They finally find a large house going cheap and move in; but it's not long before one hilarious disaster after another happens. The house is falling apart along with their bank account and they get deeper and deeper into debt and their relationship starts to fall apart. There are some really great, very colorful characters interspersed throughout, resulting in some great comedy. There's also a lot of slap-stick which even if it's not your usual cup-of-tea would be hard not to enjoy.In this movie, the script writer and set technicians are king. These professionals ought to have a showcase for their talents to be spotlighted from time to time, and they sure made the most of the opportunity with this one. The calamitous frailty of this ostensibly beautiful house renders so many brilliantly done scenes that this movie still makes me laugh out loud after seeing it several times. A joke loses all its power to amuse after the surprise of the punch-line is lost, but these sight-gags are so funny I can break out laughing while driving down a lonely highway just thinking about them. Some movies lose their effectiveness because the makers get confused and try to do too may things - the message gets muddled. The best movies exhibit no such confusion and tell their story with minimal distraction. This movie is about this house, and what these artists do with this prop is brilliantly and enduringly funny.Overall rating: 7 out of 10.

kira02bit Tom Hanks and Shelley Long play a married couple who buy a "dream house" for a ridiculously low price only to find out it is a money-sucking nightmare in this uneven and often misguided comedy.The film makes one fondly remember the much better Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, wherein Cary Grant and Myrna Loy are the couple finding a rather rocky road to success in home ownership. Hanks and Long have adequate (if not spectacular) chemistry and do their best. Unfortunately, they can do nothing to overcome the simplistic screenplay and taciturn direction from Richard Benjamin (has he ever directed a good movie?) There are some genuine laughs, but they all happen fairly early in the proceedings. The film works best when concentrating on the problems the couple has with the house. The sequences with Hanks on the crumbling staircase while Long fights off a nasty raccoon, the bathtub scenes and the chimney scene are pretty amusing. Unfortunately, the screenplay moves away from that into areas that are unfunny and cumbersome, and which also make the lead characters seem unforgivably stupid.One might be able to make the initial jump that these two could be taken in by Maureen Stapleton's obvious con of showing them the house only at night by candlelight (and that is a BIG stretch), but some of their subsequent decisions are equally dumb. Hanks' dealings with a bevy of shady contractors is both unoriginal and irritating. And let's not even discuss the tragically unfunny balletic slapstick sequence in the latter half where Hanks tries to do a Buster Keaton routine on scaffolding and runaway carts purportedly caused by Long trying to find an available plug in the house. It is not only badly choreographed, but cringeworthy.The above could be forgiven to some extent, except the latter portion of the film saddles the leads with an incredibly tiresome did-she-or-didn't-she sleep with her ex-husband subplot. The ex-husband in question is played by the late ballet dancer/actor Alexander Godunov in full lounge lizard mode. We do not believe for one moment that it happened, but this is used to drive a wedge in between Hanks and Long leading to constant bickering, which only succeeds in making them tiresome and unlikable in the moments when we should really be sympathizing with them. It also takes time away from the house, which should be the central comedic force. It also means that the latter portion of the film gives Long almost no comedy sequences and a lot of moments where she is either disagreeable or fretful.By the time the film reaches its conclusion, it seemed longer than it truly is and is fairly forgettable, but for a couple of minor laughs in the opening stretch. Fans of Hanks and Long may rate it slightly higher, but both (especially Hanks) have had better showings elsewhere.