A Fine Mess
| A Fine Mess | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
|
| Directed by | Blake Edwards |
| Produced by | Tony Adams |
| Written by | Blake Edwards |
| Starring | Ted Danson Howie Mandel |
| Music by | Henry Mancini |
| Cinematography | Harry Stradling, Jr. |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | August 8, 1986 |
| Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
A Fine Mess is a 1986 comedy film written and directed by Blake Edwards and starring Ted Danson and Howie Mandel.
The film was intended as a remake of Laurel & Hardy's classic short "The Music Box" and was to be semi-improvised in the same style as the director's earlier comedy, The Party, but studio interference, poor previews and subsequent re-editing resulted in the film becoming a fully scripted chase comedy with very little of the original ideas for the film remaining intact. Writer/director Blake Edwards actually gave television interviews telling audiences to avoid the film. For this reason, it received overwhelmingly negative reviews and was a box-office failure.
[edit] Plot
While filming on location at a race track, womanizing bit actor Spencer Holden, who lives life on one scam after another, overhears a couple of inept thugs named Binky and Turnip while they dope a race horse with a supposed undetectable super stimulant. The thugs find out that Spence overheard them and will do anything to catch him so that he won't go to the authorities with the information. Spence, however, enlists the help of his best friend, drive-in carhop and aspiring restaurateur Dennis Powell, to bet on the race with that horse so that they can make some guaranteed money. Spence and Dennis end up not only having to outrun the thugs, who manage to put a few bullet holes in Spence's car, but also the police after they find Spence's bullet riddled car and after the race horse, Sorry Sue, ends up dying from the drugs. Throw into the mix an antique player piano of which Dennis comes into possession, sympathetic but naive auction house employee Ellen Frankenthaler who is attracted to Dennis, and exotically beautiful Claudia Pazzo who is interested in buying the piano and who Spence can't resist, and Spence and Dennis may be in more trouble than they could have imagined.
[edit] Cast
- Ted Danson as Spence Holden
- Howie Mandel as Dennis Powell
- Richard Mulligan as Wayne 'Turnip' Parragella
- Stuart Margolin as Maurice 'Binky' Drundza
- Maria Conchita Alonso as Claudia Pazzo
- Jennifer Edwards as Ellen Frankenthaler
- Paul Sorvino as Tony Pazzo
- Rick Ducommun as Wardell
- Keye Luke as Ishimine
- Ed Herlihy as TV Reporter
- Walter Charles as Auctioneer
- Tawny Moyer as Leading Lady
- Emma Walton as First Extra
- Carrie Leigh as Second Extra
- Sharan Lea as Young Girl
- Dennis Franz as Phil
- Larry Storch as Leopold Klop
[edit] External links
- A Fine Mess at the Internet Movie Database
- A Fine Mess at AllRovi
- A Fine Mess at Box Office Mojo
- A Fine Mess at Rotten Tomatoes
|
|||||||||||||||||
 |
This film article about a 1980s comedy is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
