The stage curtains open ...
"Is this how we dress for the office? You look like a blood clot!"
"Big Business" (1988) starring Bette Midler, Bette Midler, Lily Tomlin, and Lily Tomlin, is a light and fun comedy by Director, Jim Abrahams - who also brought us "Airplane!", "Top Secret!", "Ruthless People", and the "Hot Shots" movies. I first saw this the year it came out when I was about 19 or so, and had a lot of fun with it. Even at that young age, I felt it was entertaining and funny, and whenever I see it now, it always takes me back to a good time. Both Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin take on duo roles in this "feel good" romp.
Two very different couples (one "high class" and one "small town") happen to be in the same rural clinic having their babies at the same time. Ironically enough, they both have a set of twins and they both name their twin daughters the same - Rose and Sadie. As fate would have it, the absent-minded nurse mistakenly swaps babies placing one from each couple together. Years later, both sets of sisters couldn't be more different from each other. Rose and Sadie Ratliff are raised in a poor rural area while Rose and Sadie Shelton in a wealthy uptown setting. Rose Shelton (Tomlin) hates city life and yearns for something simpler and stress free, while Sadie Ratliff (Midler) wants out of her small town life and yearns for room service and the glitz and glamour of big city life. When the Ratliffs travel to New York in an attempt to save their small factory, which the Sheltons own, things come to a head with hilarious results.
This is your classic comedy of mistaken identity that is chalk full of near misses, awkward situations, and confusion and mayhem. To be honest, if I had never seen this movie when it first came out, it probably wouldn't be so high with my rating of 7 stars out of 10. The routines do get a bit tired after a while, but I still really like it. The payoff is a bit lacking, and who everyone ends up with is questionable, but this film was more about the experience of it all rather than the ending anyway.
If you want a fast paced comedy that will keep you smiling from start to finish with an 80's flair to it, you can do a lot worse than this movie. I would recommend it. It's only 97 minutes long without a dull minute in there anywhere. It's been about 35 years now since I first saw it (has it really been that long?), but it still holds up fairly well. "Big Business" is worth your time.
"Is this how we dress for the office? You look like a blood clot!"
"Big Business" (1988) starring Bette Midler, Bette Midler, Lily Tomlin, and Lily Tomlin, is a light and fun comedy by Director, Jim Abrahams - who also brought us "Airplane!", "Top Secret!", "Ruthless People", and the "Hot Shots" movies. I first saw this the year it came out when I was about 19 or so, and had a lot of fun with it. Even at that young age, I felt it was entertaining and funny, and whenever I see it now, it always takes me back to a good time. Both Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin take on duo roles in this "feel good" romp.
Two very different couples (one "high class" and one "small town") happen to be in the same rural clinic having their babies at the same time. Ironically enough, they both have a set of twins and they both name their twin daughters the same - Rose and Sadie. As fate would have it, the absent-minded nurse mistakenly swaps babies placing one from each couple together. Years later, both sets of sisters couldn't be more different from each other. Rose and Sadie Ratliff are raised in a poor rural area while Rose and Sadie Shelton in a wealthy uptown setting. Rose Shelton (Tomlin) hates city life and yearns for something simpler and stress free, while Sadie Ratliff (Midler) wants out of her small town life and yearns for room service and the glitz and glamour of big city life. When the Ratliffs travel to New York in an attempt to save their small factory, which the Sheltons own, things come to a head with hilarious results.
This is your classic comedy of mistaken identity that is chalk full of near misses, awkward situations, and confusion and mayhem. To be honest, if I had never seen this movie when it first came out, it probably wouldn't be so high with my rating of 7 stars out of 10. The routines do get a bit tired after a while, but I still really like it. The payoff is a bit lacking, and who everyone ends up with is questionable, but this film was more about the experience of it all rather than the ending anyway.
If you want a fast paced comedy that will keep you smiling from start to finish with an 80's flair to it, you can do a lot worse than this movie. I would recommend it. It's only 97 minutes long without a dull minute in there anywhere. It's been about 35 years now since I first saw it (has it really been that long?), but it still holds up fairly well. "Big Business" is worth your time.