Main Cast: Ted Danson, Howie Mandel, Richard Mulligan, Stuart Margolin, Maria Conchita Alonso
Release Year: 1986
Country: US
Run Time: 100 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Blake Edwards comes a cropper in this lunk-headed slapstick homage to Laurel and Hardy, Mack Sennett, and Jerry Lewis. Ted Danson and Howie Mandell play Spence Holden and Dennis Powell, a couple of idiots who find themselves involved with a pack of gangsters. Spence is a two-bit actor who is at a racetrack location with his pal Dennis, when he overhears two small-time thugs, Wayne "Turnip" Parragella (Richard Mulligan) and Maurice "Binky" Drundza (Stuart Margolin), talk about doping a horse set to run a race. It turns out that Turnip and Binky are under orders to carry out the dastardly scheme by their underworld boss Tony Pazzo (Paul Sorvino). When Spence and Dennis are found out, they find themselves pursued all over the Los Angeles area by an angry Tony Pazzo mob in an ever-escalating series of races and chases, crashes and smashes, and shouting and screaming. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Review
This late-period venture into screwball comedy isn't Blake Edwards's finest moment: the comedic highs are spaced a little too far for the film to cohere and it runs out of steam when it should be building up to manic heights in the third act. That said, A Fine Mess offers some little pleasures for comedy fans: Ted Danson and Howie Mandel make an engaging comedic team, gliding through the slim storyline with ease, and Stuart Margolin and Richard Mulligan give them a run for the money as a slapstick-prone pair of bumbling crooks. Edwards's direction sometimes flags in the pacing department but he structures the individual gags with skill and the results frequently get a laugh: highlights include Danson and Mandel's attempts to dodge the crooks while placing a bet and Mandel's slow-burn reaction to some unexpectedly spicy Indian food. The end result is a film of modest pleasures and this makes A Fine Mess a pleasant enough way for fans of old-school comedy to kill an afternoon. ~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide
Jennifer Edwards - Ellen Frankenthaler; Paul Sorvino - Tony Pazzo; Brooke Alderson - Aileen; Sharon Barr - Director's Wife; Walter Charles - Auctioneer; Frederick Coffin - Traffic Cop; James Cromwell - Detective Blist; Rick Ducommun - Wardell; Dennis Franz - Phil; Castulo Guerra - Italian Director; Darryl Henriques - Landlord; Ed Herlihy - TV Reporter; Arthur Hill; Robert Hoy - Detective Levine; Sharon Hughes - Tina; Jeffrey Lampert - Car Salesman; Sharan Lea - Young Girl; Carrie Leigh - Extra; Keye Luke - Ishimine; Tawny Moyer - Leading Lady; Jack O'Leary - Piano Mover; Rick Overton - Companion; Vic Polizos - Detective Hunker; John Short - Assistant Director; Larry Storch - Leopold Klop; Emma Walton - Extra; Valerie Wildman - Anchorwoman; Elaine Wilkes - Carhop; Theodore Wilson - Covington; Jim Byers - Track Announcer; Doug Cox - Piano Mover; Shep Tanney - Dr. Henry Garfurg; Garth Wilton - Houseman; Jimmy Lewis - Detective Albert; John Davey - Detective Horn
Credit
Philippe Gerard - Choreography, Pat Norris - Costume Designer, Blake Edwards - Director, John F. Burnett - Editor, Robert Pergament - Editor, Jonathan D. Krane - Executive Producer, Henry Mancini - Composer (Music Score), Dave Bartholomew - Songwriter, Anne Boston - Songwriter, Keith Burston - Songwriter, William Burton - Songwriter, John F. Calder - Songwriter, Luigi Creatore - Songwriter, Bob Crewe - Songwriter, Antoine Domino - Songwriter, Eric Douglas - Songwriter, Robert Elsey - Songwriter, Steve Farris - Songwriter, John E. Garnett - Songwriter, Bob Gaudio - Songwriter, Steve George - Songwriter, Roy Hayes - Songwriter, Larry Huff - Songwriter, Nick Jameson - Songwriter, Dennis Lambert - Songwriter, John Lan - Songwriter, William Linton - Songwriter, Darryl Littlejohn - Songwriter, Richard Page - Songwriter, Huge Peretti - Songwriter, Michael Price - Songwriter, Bobby Sandstrom - Songwriter, George Weiss - Songwriter, David Bryant - Songwriter, Rick Sharp - Makeup, Rodger Maus - Production Designer, Harry Stradling, Jr. - Cinematographer, Tony Adams - Producer, Stuart A. Reiss - Set Designer, Roy Downey - Special Effects, Joe Dunne - Stunts, Blake Edwards - Screenwriter, Norman Steinberg - Screenwriter, Larry Williams - Featured Music
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.
Synopsis
An actor and a chef try to fix a local horse race. They must deal with two mafia hit men sent to stop them. Adding to the complications is the hit men's boss, whose wife is having an affair with the actor.
