Main Cast: Robby Benson, Linda Grovenor, Charles Durning, Elsa Lanchester, Bud Cort
Release Year: 1980
Country: US
Run Time: 108 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
In this black comedy, a humble cab driver spends his days daydreaming of becoming a rock-star. His blissful reverie is one day interrupted when ends up inadvertently blamed for the assassination of a world-renowned nuclear scientist. Soon afterward he finds that he has a stowaway, the late scientist's chimpanzee, the only one who knows his master's secret formula, which if ever written down could cause the destruction of the world. Now the hapless taxi driver must evade both the cops and two villainous Russian Spies. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Review
Clearly, Die Laughing was a bit of a vanity project for Robby Benson -- he co-wrote and co-produced the film in addition to starring and writing and performing several songs on its soundtrack. That said, it must go down in history as one of the strangest and most misguided vanity projects ever unleashed by a major studio. The script is a bizarre mix of thriller elements, airheaded political "satire," mushy romance and lowbrow humor (one setpiece involves Benson getting hit in the groin, accidentally shoving his face into a lady's behind and later diving face first into a huge pile of horse manure). It has imagination, to say the least, but it's got no sense of proportion when it comes to blending these elements and a surprising amount of bad taste. Jeff Werner's direction is competent as it can be under the circumstances, bringing a slickness to the story and some nice visuals, but it fights a losing battle against the out-of-control storyline. Die Laughing also has a serious problem in the acting department -- Benson himself. He is capable of turning in fine performances in the proper setting but he's jaw-droppingly bad here, mugging wildly for the camera at every opportunity and creating a character who is such a buffoon that he keeps the audience at a distance. There's also a seriously bizarre performance from Bud Cort as the film's villain but he actually adds a shot of life when the film gets bogged down with his anything-goes improvisational antics. Elsewhere, old pros like Charles Durning and Elsa Lanchester provide solid support but they can't save the misguided goings-on. To sum up, Die Laughing is so far off the mark that it provides some entertainment value in a perverse, unintentional way but the members of the audience likely to take it that way are few and far between. This one is best left to the hardcore Benson fans. ~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide
Rita Taggart - Thelma; Marty Zagon - Friend; Larry Hankin - Bock; Sammuel Krachmalnick - Zhukov; Maurice Argent - Jewish Man; Joe Bellan - Dispatcher; Peter Coyote - Davis; Charles Dorsett; Charles Fleischer - Charlie; Rhoda Gemignani - Russian Ticket Taker; Morgan Upton - Record Judge; Carel Struycken - Gregor the Giant; John Bracci - Lt. Allen; James Cranna - Newscaster; Christopher Pray - Detective
Credit
Donald MacDonald - Associate Producer, Nancy McArdle - Costume Designer, David Whorf - First Assistant Director, Jeff Werner - Director, Neil Travis - Editor, Jon Peters - Executive Producer, Robby Benson - Composer (Music Score), Craig Safan - Composer (Music Score), Jerry Segal - Composer (Music Score), James Spencer - Production Designer, David Myers - Cinematographer, Charles Correll - Cinematographer, Robby Benson - Producer, Mark Canton - Producer, Doug von Koss - Set Designer, Roger George - Special Effects, Robby Benson - Screenwriter, Jerry Segal - Screenwriter, Scott Parker - Screenwriter
