"The beauty of the world, the paragon of animals... but to me, what is this quintessence of dust?"
Paul Mazursky's world of over-the-top characters makes for a bizarre - yet very 80s - movie, both in a unique way and in a not-so-interesting way. Richard Dreyfuss plays David Whiteman (because he's... ya know), a rich man who plays happy on the outside... but on the inside, his marriage to Barbara (Bette Midler) has been uneventful and sexless, while his two kids have their own issues: the daughter dealing with anorexia and the son attempting to come out to his parents about his sexuality. The first half of the movie waddles around slowly as you get to know this eccentric group of people - from the family dog Matisse beefing with Dave to the patriarch entangling with the maid (Elizabeth Peña) every other night... but things start to rev up when homeless bum Jerry (Nick Nolte) enters the frame, as his failure to seek his lost dog ends with him attempting to drown himself in the Whiteman family pool. Of course, everyone is repulsed by his appearance but Dave sees the greater good in him and gets to know him very well - with the family eventually warming up to him too.
What transpires for the rest of the movie is the newly reformed Jerry helping out the rest of the family with their woes while Dave goes through the usual pains in the life of a successful businessman... with a twist about the homeless man's true past - one that makes you look at the character a bit differently when you see how he philanders around with the female family members. There's plenty of interesting concepts, themes and messages about the class struggles, identity, spirituality and race relations... but these are all abbreviated to make room for punchlines and stereotypes that more than often miss than land on the "funny" scale. Such an unfocused story with abhorrent bedfellows can make the runtime begin to overstay its welcome at points, but it is an interesting watch regardless - one that makes you wonder if this would work better with a stronger script and pace.
MVPs: Nick Nolte for Saltburning his way around the household before Barry Keoghan even knew what bath water was... and Little Richard - who deserved more runtime! - as a rich neighbor who has a hand in the music business (because he's fucking Little Richard, of course, and he's never been given his credit). He has the funniest scene in this entire movie and yet... that storyline isn't fully fleshed either.
"The beauty of the world, the paragon of animals... but to me, what is this quintessence of dust?"
Paul Mazursky's world of over-the-top characters makes for a bizarre - yet very 80s - movie, both in a unique way and in a not-so-interesting way. Richard Dreyfuss plays David Whiteman (because he's... ya know), a rich man who plays happy on the outside... but on the inside, his marriage to Barbara (Bette Midler) has been uneventful and sexless, while his two kids have their own issues: the daughter dealing with anorexia and the son attempting to come out to his parents about his sexuality. The first half of the movie waddles around slowly as you get to know this eccentric group of people - from the family dog Matisse beefing with Dave to the patriarch entangling with the maid (Elizabeth Peña) every other night... but things start to rev up when homeless bum Jerry (Nick Nolte) enters the frame, as his failure to seek his lost dog ends with him attempting to drown himself in the Whiteman family pool. Of course, everyone is repulsed by his appearance but Dave sees the greater good in him and gets to know him very well - with the family eventually warming up to him too.
What transpires for the rest of the movie is the newly reformed Jerry helping out the rest of the family with their woes while Dave goes through the usual pains in the life of a successful businessman... with a twist about the homeless man's true past - one that makes you look at the character a bit differently when you see how he philanders around with the female family members. There's plenty of interesting concepts, themes and messages about the class struggles, identity, spirituality and race relations... but these are all abbreviated to make room for punchlines and stereotypes that more than often miss than land on the "funny" scale. Such an unfocused story with abhorrent bedfellows can make the runtime begin to overstay its welcome at points, but it is an interesting watch regardless - one that makes you wonder if this would work better with a stronger script and pace.
MVPs: Nick Nolte for Saltburning his way around the household before Barry Keoghan even knew what bath water was... and Little Richard - who deserved more runtime! - as a rich neighbor who has a hand in the music business (because he's fucking Little Richard, of course, and he's never been given his credit). He has the funniest scene in this entire movie and yet... that storyline isn't fully fleshed either.
