MOVIE REVIEW: "The Money Pit" (1986)

Synopsis: Walter and Ana's marriage is shaken after they buy a bad house and have to make a giant renovation. Nosy workers, missed deadlines, abysmal spending, and poor housing conditions are just some of the extra problems they will face.

The purpose of a comedy movie is to make you laugh (and that couldn't be a more obvious finding). But when it comes to making a good movie, the question is not so simple: you have to make you laugh intelligently... That is, making the smile come out spontaneously. This is definitely not an easy task for this film genre, but this movie can do it without much effort.

The task of making a laugh from an exaggerated concept (and that usually tends to surrender to a big loss throughout their arguments) is always a tricky job because the fact that the situation is not so close to reality puts a weird take on the facts and this conduction may eventually detract from the viewer's interest in wanting to follow the story simply because they can't identify themselves with what is being counted on the screen.

Even in a scenario where everything seems to be happening under the lens of a magnifying glass, this film manages to make credible all the absurd situations experienced by the couple while they wage a real battle to recover the house. What they didn't do is the idea that the price so cheap they paid to buy it would quickly increase with all the repairs that needed to be made. In addition, new problems in the couple's relationship will emerge amid even more unexpected situations.

Despite its rather slow start (this is the most boring part of the movie), when the script hits the tone and sets the field where all comedy takes place the quality of the film remains at an upward level. The way the story is constructed is so efficient and well delimited that it can even arouse a quick empathy for the audience to the point of wanting to get inside the movie to help them fix the house.

Any movie that can get audiences to bond with its characters and stories proves how well written it is. The comic urgency of fights, wrecks and other annoying situations that the couple experiences is always watered by very good humor and all this is shown in a very genuine way - despite all its surreal tone - that matches the atmosphere that surrounds the movie on all sides (even when there is room to include a dramatic spark in the couple's relationship).

Tom Hanks and Shelley Long make a great charismatic duo (it's great to see them on the scene with such fluid and connected acting) and they are also part of the film's success and how easily it can be accepted even though it is taking such a cartoon approach in all its segments. They can sell this movie so surely that believing in the complication of their problems can be seen very naturally.

In charge of this crazy comedy is director Richard Benjamin and certainly his work was instrumental in making this movie work so well. Most scenes focused 100% on comic acts are always shown in a wealth of detail and it takes a keen eye to do that in a movie of this genre. A simple scene becomes a real, highly entertaining mess in a matter of seconds and in the strangest ways possible (in the best sense this adjective might have).

The Money Pit is a very entertaining comedy that invests heavily in physical humor throughout its development (after all, the strength of the movie lies in a house that is falling apart), but that lightly can still find punctual moments where you can more intelligently explore other equally funny aspects. Undoubtedly, it's a great choice within the comedy world.

MOVIE URL: The Money Pit

MY RATING: AA (8,0/10)

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