![]() Long is good as his sort of straight-(wo)man, but Godunov steals all his scenes as her self-absorbed ex husband. ![]() Even his charm in the earlier scenes, like dealing with a bratty kid-star, are funny. Too stunned to curse, he does what we all do, as he begins to beat the hell out of the object he was hammering. Such as when he accidentally hammers his thumb. A big credit goes to Hanks, who's facial expressions are priceless at times. But because there are so many angles for the filmmakers to come from-collapse of stairs, wild animals lurking, bad wiring-it manages to hold itself together for around ninety minutes. It is, of course, too good to be true, after the sob-story old lady has sold it to them it begins to crumble into disaster. It all begins when Hanks and Long buy a big, grand, dream house in the New York countryside. This is the rarest of the rare: a one-joke comedy where the one-joke is able to sustain the whole film. With the laughs that came previously more than making this a blues lifter for the nostalgic amongst us. But it's nicely underplayed by the actors and really this is about love triumphant against adversity. With the comedy gone, picture struggles a touch to put the final coat of paint on the project. It doesn't have any surprises in store, it goes exactly where you expect it too, which naturally renders the final third as being all about the sentiment and the message. If the foundation is OK? Then everything else can be fixed. Helps that Hanks is full of effervescent boyishness and Long is so homely and pretty, the latter of which I don't think has ever looked better than during a red dress sequence here. They are a very likable couple and easy to root for. There's a lovely romance at the core of the story, one that inevitably will be tested by the chaos of the house renovations and Godunov's third party ex. It sounds a little chaotic, and it is at times, but the screenplay allows Hanks & Long, and the wonderful Godunov, time to breath life into the characters. A number of sequences are pure farce, but in the good way, stairs collapse, as does the chimney, doors, floors and a leaking roof bring the mirth, as does a laugh out loud bath moment. That is, of course, if you don't mind laughing at the misfortune of new home owners?! I am sinking fast into the money pit. The plot might be thin and Long kind of gets pushed to one side, but this has much to enjoy with a bottle of vino and snacks. ![]() The Money Pit doesn't have the cult worship of Splash or the internet respect of Big, yet it's a wonderfully funny picture that finds Hanks on optimum energised form. ![]() Yet for many of us, that decade holds many treasures, where nostalgic fever takes a hold and a warm glow does come with watching the young Hanks bound about with comedic glee. He went on to be a big mover in the acting world did Tom Hanks, so much so it's always a little weird revisiting his comedy output in the 1980s because he's a vastly different actor now. Plot finds Hanks and Long as a young couple who buy what they think is their dream house, only to find the house falling apart around them. Music is by Michael Colombier and cinematography by Gordon Willis. It stars Tom Hanks, Shelley Long, Alexander Godunov and Maureen Stapleton. The Money Pit is directed by Richard Benjamin and written by David Giler.
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