Meatballs (film)

Meatballs
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Ivan Reitman
Written by	Len Blum Dan Goldberg Janis Allen Harold Ramis
Produced by	John Dunning
Starring	Bill Murray Chris Makepeace Kate Lynch
Cinematography	Don Wilder
Edited by	Debra Karen
Music by	George Fenton
Production companies	Famous Players CFDC
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	June 29, 1979 (1979-06-29)
Running time	99 minutes
Country	Canada
Language	English
Budget	$1.6 million
Box office	$43,046,003

Meatballs is a 1979 Canadian comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman. It is noted for the first film appearance of Bill Murray in a starring role and for launching Reitman into a distinguished career of financially successful comedies including Stripes (1981) and Ghostbusters (1984), both starring Murray. The film also introduced child actor Chris Makepeace in the role of Rudy Gerner. It was followed by several sequels, of which only Meatballs III: Summer Job (1986) had any connection to the original.

Plot

The film follows the antics of head counsellor Tripper Harrison (Murray) and the counsellors-in-training (CITs) at Camp North Star, a cut-rate summer camp. The main plot involves Rudy Gerner (Makepeace), a lonely kid who is sent to summer camp by his father. Noticing Rudy is unable to fit in, Tripper takes him under his wing and each morning they go jogging and bond as friends. Tripper helps Rudy gain confidence while Rudy encourages Tripper to start a romance with Roxanne (Lynch), the female head counsellor.

Candace (Torgov) "kidnaps" Crockett (Banham) in a speedboat and confesses her feelings for him. Wheels, who had broken up with A.L. (DeBell) the year before, successfully rekindle their relationship during a dance. The nerdy Spaz (Blum) develops a crush on Jackie.

Morty Melnick (Atkin) is the North Star Camp director and the butt of the counsellors' practical jokes. Tripper's favourite gag is invading Morty's cabin in the middle of the night and relocating the deep-sleeping director to unusual places such as in a tree or on the roadside.

A subplot deals with the camp's rivalry with the wealthy Camp Mohawk, located across the lake. During a basketball game, North Star is being beaten by Mohawk when they attempt their own perverse form of victory. This sets the stage for the yearly Olympiad held between the camps in which Mohawk carries a 12-0 record.

During the first day of competition, Mohawk dominates North Star, cheating in many cases to win. Crockett fails to clear the high jump bar, Hardware gets pummeled in boxing, and Jackie suffers a broken leg in field hockey, thanks to the dirty work of two Mohawk girls. The score at the end of Day One is: Mohawk-170, North Star-63. That evening at the North Star Lodge, Tripper gives a rousing speech, telling demoralized campers that it doesn't matter whether they win or lose. In unison, Camp North Star begins to chant, "It just doesn't matter!"

Newly inspired, Day Two of the Olympiad belongs to North Star as they win every event. Wheels outwrestles his opponent, Spaz defeats Rhino in a stacking contest with inspiration from Jackie and a thwarted Mohawk cheating attempt, and after 12 years of defeat Fink finally beats "The Stomach" in the hot dog eating contest. North Star now trails by only 10 points with one event left, a 4-mile cross country run for 20 points. Tripper steps forward and elects a surprised Rudy to compete against Horse (McLarty), Mohawk's star runner. The many mornings Rudy spent jogging and training with Tripper pay off as he wins the race, giving North Star its first Olympiad victory.

Later that evening, Morty, Tripper, Roxanne, and the CITs sing around a campfire and say their final goodbyes as the camp prepares to close for the summer. Roxanne agrees to come live with Tripper and, on a motorcycle, the two of them lead the buses out of camp. The movie ends with Morty in bed on a raft in the lake, then stepping sleepily into the water.

Cast

• Bill Murray as Tripper Harrison
• Chris Makepeace as Rudy Gerner
• Kate Lynch as Roxanne
• Harvey Atkin as Morty Melnick
• Russ Banham as Bobby Crockett
• Sarah Torgov as Candace
• Jack Blum as "Spaz"
• Keith Knight as Larry "Fink" Finkelstein
• Matt Craven as "Hardware" Renzetti
• Margot Pinvidic as Jackie
• Todd Hoffman as "Wheels"
• Kristine DeBell as A.L.
• Cindy Girling as Wendy
• Elmars Sebrins as Spaz's father

Reception

Critical response

Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 75% based on 32 reviews.

Music

The instrumental music was written by Elmer Bernstein. Musicians contributing to the soundtrack included Mary MacGregor performing "Good Friend," David Naughton performing "Makin' It" and Rick Dees and His Cast of Idiots performing the title theme "Meatballs". "Good Friend" and "Makin' It" made the Billboard and Cashbox pop charts (see below).

Soundtrack discography

Singles

• Makin' It (by David Naughton) (Billboard #5, Cashbox #5) / Still Makin' It (instrumental of A-side) -- RSO 916—1979
• Good Friend (by Mary MacGregor) (Billboard #39, Cashbox #44) / Rudy and Tripper (dialogue from film) -- RSO 938—1979

Album

Meatballs RSO 1-3056 (Billboard #170, August 1979)

Side one

1. "Are You Ready for the Summer" – North Star Camp Kids Chorus
2. "Rudy and Tripper" (instrumental)
3. "Makin' It" – David Naughton
4. "Moondust" – Terry Black
5. "C.I.T. Song" – Original Cast

Side two

1. "Good Friend" – Mary MacGregor
2. "Olympiad" (instrumental)
3. "Meatballs" – Rick Dees
4. "Rudy Wins the Race" (instrumental)
5. "Moondust (Reprise)" – Terry Black
6. "Are You Ready for the Summer (Reprise)" – North Star Camp Kids Chorus

Production notes

• During filming of the movie during the summer of 1978, Camp White Pine continued business as usual, resulting in many campers and staff members being used as extras and secondary characters in the film.
• According to the DVD commentary, scenes of the first day of camp were the first day of actual shooting for Bill Murray. He was signed to do the film at the last minute because of his commitment to Saturday Night Live. His outfit, the Hawaiian shirt and red shorts, were his own clothes that he showed up on set with.
• Harold Ramis said that Reitman did not know for certain whether Murray would be in the movie until he showed up for the first day of filming.

Filming locations

The movie was filmed at Camp White Pine and other locations near Haliburton, Ontario.

Home release

Meatballs was first released on DVD in 1999 by HBO (although Paramount Pictures was behind the original theatrical release and the first VHS and Selectavision release in the 1980s, and also continues to hold international video rights.) Sony Pictures Entertainment issued a special-edition DVD (with an anamorphic transfer, a director's commentary, and a "Making of" featurette) on June 5, 2007. The sequels did not receive the same treatment of re-release. However, Lionsgate released the Blu-ray on June 12, 2012, which retains the commentary from the Sony DVD but not the featurette.

Franchise

Meatballs was followed by three sequels: Meatballs Part II (1984), Meatballs III: Summer Job (1986) and Meatballs 4 (1992). None of the sequels involved either Ivan Reitman or Bill Murray. Only Meatballs III had any relation to the story or characters of the original, featuring Patrick Dempsey as Rudy Gerner (replacing Chris Makepeace from the original film). The sequels featured raunchier humor on par with popular contemporary teen sex comedies like Porky's (1982) and Revenge of the Nerds (1984). The sequels were all critically panned, and failed to make a profit at the box office. In 2010, development of a remake of Meatballs was announced by Lionsgate, with John Whitesell attached to direct a script by Sean Anders and John Morris.

External links

• Meatballs at IMDb
• Meatballs at AllMovie
• Meatballs at Box Office Mojo