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Outrageous Fortune
Bette Midler and Shelley Long are teamed for a logic-defying action comedy called Outrageous Fortune,which provides some laughs before running out of gas, from the writer of Mrs. Doubtfire and the director of Silver Streak.
Midler and Long play two very different women who meet in an acting class but don't know they are having an affair with the same man, one Michael Sanders (Peter Coyote). Before the ladies discover the truth, Michael fakes his death and the women team up to find him, determining to find out which one of them he really loves, completely unconcerned with the fact that the CIA is after him because of a deadly toxin he is in possession of which could destroy all plant life.
Leslie Dixon's screenplay for this 1987 starts off promisingly, setting up the unlikely teaming between these two women, polar opposites in every way except for their attraction to this man. But what gives this story a dash of originality is the fact that even after our heroines finally realize how much danger Michael has put them in, the only thing they still seemed to care about is which one of them he really loved. Once they agree on the fact that Michael is scum and doesn't deserve to live, the film definitely begins to lose steam.
The detective work that the ladies employ to locate Michael is kind of silly and the broad accent Midler utilizes in the beginning of the movie disappears about 25 minutes in, but both actresses prove to be very adept at physical comedy and work hide at disguising an air of tension between them. The skills which aspiring actress Lauren, played by Long, all come into play later on in the story, even if they have an "Aw come on" air about them. This is also the first film I've ever seen with two separate scenes involving large amounts of money being released from containers and flying through the sky so people can scoop it up.
Like he did with Silver Streak, director Arthur Hiller displays a strength with action sequences played against some gorgeous Arizona scenery. Midler and Long have a strong supporting cast behind them including Robert Prosky as a phony acting teacher, John Schuck as a CIA agent and the late great George Carlin as a drunken fake Indian named Frank. It's no Thelma and Louise, but there are laughs to be found, even if they're aren't consistent to the closing credits.
Bette Midler and Shelley Long are teamed for a logic-defying action comedy called Outrageous Fortune,which provides some laughs before running out of gas, from the writer of Mrs. Doubtfire and the director of Silver Streak.
Midler and Long play two very different women who meet in an acting class but don't know they are having an affair with the same man, one Michael Sanders (Peter Coyote). Before the ladies discover the truth, Michael fakes his death and the women team up to find him, determining to find out which one of them he really loves, completely unconcerned with the fact that the CIA is after him because of a deadly toxin he is in possession of which could destroy all plant life.
Leslie Dixon's screenplay for this 1987 starts off promisingly, setting up the unlikely teaming between these two women, polar opposites in every way except for their attraction to this man. But what gives this story a dash of originality is the fact that even after our heroines finally realize how much danger Michael has put them in, the only thing they still seemed to care about is which one of them he really loved. Once they agree on the fact that Michael is scum and doesn't deserve to live, the film definitely begins to lose steam.
The detective work that the ladies employ to locate Michael is kind of silly and the broad accent Midler utilizes in the beginning of the movie disappears about 25 minutes in, but both actresses prove to be very adept at physical comedy and work hide at disguising an air of tension between them. The skills which aspiring actress Lauren, played by Long, all come into play later on in the story, even if they have an "Aw come on" air about them. This is also the first film I've ever seen with two separate scenes involving large amounts of money being released from containers and flying through the sky so people can scoop it up.
Like he did with Silver Streak, director Arthur Hiller displays a strength with action sequences played against some gorgeous Arizona scenery. Midler and Long have a strong supporting cast behind them including Robert Prosky as a phony acting teacher, John Schuck as a CIA agent and the late great George Carlin as a drunken fake Indian named Frank. It's no Thelma and Louise, but there are laughs to be found, even if they're aren't consistent to the closing credits.