The characters here aren't just bad; most of them are truly vile -- human slime. And the film makers chew them up (especially two nefarious bonbons played by Danny DeVito and Bette Midler) with the toothsome glee of jolly cannibals.
Ruthless People
Sam Stone's wife has just been kidnapped... And he doesn't want her back!
1986 · 1h 33m · R
Comedy
Directed by
Jim Abrahams
,
David Zucker
,
Jerry Zucker
Overview
Sam Stone hates his wife Barbara so much that he wants her dead. He's ecstatic when she's taken by a duo of kidnappers who want $500,000 ransom in exchange for her life. Fully intending to ignore every one of the kidnappers' demands in the hopes that they do him a favor and murder her for him, the two confused kidnappers have to figure out how they're going get their money, and what they're going to do with the overbearing Barbara.
Director and cast
- Jim Abrahams Director
- David Zucker Director
- Jerry Zucker Director
- Danny DeVito as Sam Stone
- Bette Midler as Barbara Stone
- Judge Reinhold as Ken Kessler
- Helen Slater as Sandy Kessler
- Anita Morris as Carol Dodsworth
- Bill Pullman as Earl Mott
- William G. Schilling as Chief Henry Benton
- Art Evans as Lt. Bender
- Clarence Felder as Lt. Walters
- J.E. Freeman Cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
Much of the fun of this comedy is in watching what happens as virtually everyone in the movie tries to double-cross or otherwise take advantage of everyone else.
An undemanding but well-executed entertainment.
Ruthless People contains some of the biggest laughs of 1986.
It's a rare kind of craftsmanship, and it produces a rare kind of pleasure.
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