Themes: Riches To Rags, Fish Out of Water, Class Differences
Main Cast: Mel Brooks, Lesley Ann Warren, Jeffrey Tambor, Stuart Pankin, Howard Morris
Release Year: 1991
Country: US
Run Time: 93 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
If a comedy is to be made from the plight of the homeless, who have to scrape through their days returning deposit bottles and cleaning car windshields to get their daily bread as the rich get richer and more heartless, it may as well be Mel Brooks' Life Stinks. The trademark Brooks humor dominates this fable about a ruthless billionaire, Goddard Bolt (Mel Brooks), who wants to obliterate a poor section of Los Angeles and build a high-tech commercial center in its place. His only problem is that he owns only half the land needed for the construction, the other half belonging to equally ruthless billionaire Vance Craswell (Jeffrey Tambor), who has his own ideas for the land. The two try to buy each other out until, finally, a deal is struck: Craswell bets that Bolt cannot survive a month on the streets as a homeless man. If Bolt makes it, he gets the property. If he doesn't, Craswell gets it. Bolt agrees and, as a poor man, he begins to feel the pain of being uprooted and alone, even meeting a friendly homeless woman, Molly (Lesley Ann Warren) with whom he forms an attachment. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Rudy de Luca - J. Paul Getty; Theodore Wilson - Fumes; Michael Ensign - Knowles; Matthew Faison - Stevens; Billy Barty - Willy; Brian Thompson - Mean Victor; Raymond O'Connor - Yo; Carmine Caridi - Flophouse Owner; Ralph Ahn - Chinese Cook; George Berkeley - Derelict Outside Flophouse; Anne Betancourt - Nurse; Christopher Birt - Paramedic; Marvin Braveman - Dr. Kahahn; Stanley Brock - Store Owner; Larry Cedar - Paramedic; Johnny Cocktails - Burrito-Eating Bum; David Correia - Policeman; Joan Crosby - Woman at Fire; Rose DuCaine - Dancing Dowager at Party; Carmen Filpi - Pops; Stu Gilliam - Desmond; Angela Gordon - Capacity Nurse; Darrow Igus - Maynard; Henry Kaiser - Newscaster; Casey King - Shopping Cart Chauffer; Jere Laird - Stock Market Reporter; Jim Mapp - Blind Man; Jimmy Martinez - Dancing Vagrant at Party; Ralph Mauro - Hors d'oeuvre Vagrant at Party; Sam Menning - Old Wino; Anthony Messina - Policeman; Anthony Thomas Mitchell - Nibbler Driver; Marianne Muellerleile - Head Nurse; Saida Pagan - Newscaster; Michael Pniewski - Male Nurse; Frank Roman - Spanish Interpreter; Robin Shepard - Nurse; Sammy Shore - Reverend at Wedding; Kathryn Skatula - Nurse; Tamara Taylor - Newscaster; Patrick Valenzuela - Street Person at Fight; James Van Patten - Male Nurse; Martin Charles Warner - Dirty Faced Vagrant at Party; Jennifer Warren; Mary Watson - Newscaster; Clifton Wells - Taco Stand Owner; Danny Wells - Mercedes Driver; Terrence Williams - Boy Dancing in Doorway; Helene Winston - Society Patron; Ira Miller - Man at Fire; Ronny Graham - Priest; Robert Ridgely - Fergueson; John Welsh - Dodd
Credit
Josan F. Russo - Art Director, Mary Malin - Costume Designer, Mel Brooks - Director, Michael Mulconery - Editor, David Rawlins - Editor, Anthony Redman - Editor, John Morris - Composer (Music Score), Peter Larkin - Production Designer, Steven Poster - Cinematographer, Mel Brooks - Producer, Kim Kurumada - Producer, Ezra Swerdlow - Producer, Marvin March - Set Designer, Jesse Wayne - Stunts, Mel Brooks - Screenwriter, Ron Clark - Screenwriter, Rudy de Luca - Screenwriter, Steve Haberman - Screenwriter, Tom Perry - Re-Recording Mixer
In order to own an entire slum area of Los Angeles so he can tear it down, a callous, rich businessman, Goddard Bolt (CEO of Bolt Enterprises) makes a bet with his biggest rival, who also has an interest in the slum area, that he can survive on those streets for 30 days completely penniless. If he succeeds he will be able to make a big profit by getting the area for almost nothing. His rival, though, plans to make his stay on the streets as bad as he can for Bolt to force him to give up before the 30 days are over. During his intermezzo on the streets of the city, Bolt, who is quickly given the nickname "Pepto" by other homeless persons, discovers a completely other side of life and eventually falls in love with a homeless woman.
Unlike Brooks's success much earlier, it is the first Mel Brooks film to be both a critical and commercial failure. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 19% of critics gave positive reviews based on 16 reviews.[2] The film underperformed at the box office grossing $4,102,526 domestically under its $13 million budget.[3]
The film's opening scene closely resembles that of the episode Columbo: Blueprint for Murder, from the first season of the TV series.
Whoopi Goldberg was initially considered for Lesley Ann Warren's role, however Brooks was uncertain whether he could convincingly play her love interest.
