Throw Momma from the Train (1987)

A little all over the place, granted, but I still felt entertained by <em>'Throw Momma from the Train'</em>.

Danny DeVito stars in what is his theatrical directorial debut. I chose to watch this because of him being in it, as I want to watch more of his stuff, and he is the film's strongest element, I'd say. Billy Crystal is good too, him and DeVito work nicely together throughout.

Anne Ramsey's character annoyed me a lot, I can't lie. I'm actually flabbergasted to read that the performance got Ramsey an Oscar nomination - 1987 must've been a slow year for Best Supporting Actress. No hate for Ramsey though, btw - happy for her! I know Momma is supposed to be annoying, but she's way too far along that particular scale for me.

The aforementioned is my only complaint, however. It's a good time otherwise, even if I feel like it meanders here and there in setting up each part of the story. It's all worthy of your time, mind.

Though she doesn't really feature enough, Anne Ramsey does steal the show with her scenes as the mother whom henpecked son "Owen" (Danny DeVito) wants to chuck from the train! Meantime, stagnating author "Larry" is shouting as the television whilst his ex-wife "Margaret" (Kate Mulgrew) is doing the chat show circuit with a book he claimed to have written. He would cheerfully see her dead, and that's exactly what happens when his student "Owen" takes advantage of a scenario on a luxury yacht. Thing is, he owns up to "Larry" and demands - à la "Strangers on a Train" (1951) - a quid pro quo. "Larry" isn't keen on becoming a murderer though, but having encountered the harridan mother first-hand and having become a police suspect in the demise of his former wife he might find his options limited! I'm not really a lover of buddy comedy as such. Usually the scenarios are so obviously contrived to get a series of laughs before a dead cert conclusion that you could have written them yourself. This one isn't really very different on that front, but DeVito and Crystal do work well together keeping the story from becoming too formulaic and at times it provides quite a poignant assessment of friendship and marriage. I had forgotten just how big Oprah's hair was in the 1980s!