Themes: Nothing Goes Right, Fired or Laid-Off, Dropping Out
Main Cast: Albert Brooks, Julie Hagerty, Garry Marshall, Art Frankel, Michael Greene, Maggie Roswell
Release Year: 1985
Country: US
Run Time: 91 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Bored with their cushy suburban existence, yuppie David (Albert Brooks) talks his wife Linda (Julie Hagerty) into selling everything they own and hitting the road to "see America." As a starting-over gesture, David and Linda are romantically remarried in Las Vegas -- which, ironically, proves to be the beginning of the end of their idyll. In short order, Linda loses their life's savings, the couple nearly self-destructs at Hoover Dam, they take blue-collar jobs in a go-nowhere Arizona town, and....Well, if you know your Albert Brooks, be prepared for a steady stream of manic social satire. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Albert Brooks, master of the slow burn, was the director and co-writer, with Monica Johnson, behind this masterful evisceration of the materialistic values of 1980s American yuppie culture. In a wicked parody of the Me Generation, Brooks' protagonists' ideals are presented as a dark reflection of the idealism that suffered such a hard death after the 1960s. Lost in America's satirical emulation of Easy Rider sees David and Linda Howard not traveling the American hinterland on a chopper but roaming interstates in a gas-hogging Winnebago and talking reverently of the cocoon-like comfort that their "nest egg" provides. Initially aimed at finding the "real" America (they want to "touch the Indians"), the journey ultimately leads to Las Vegas, the heart of the American Dream's darkness. The greed of an entire money-obsessed generation is spread out before us in these moments, and Brooks' ability to turn his horror and disgust into our amusement is without parallel in movies of the era. Implicit in his rage is a challenge issued to his generation: is this the best you can do? Both Brooks and Julie Hagerty distinguish themselves in a cast that includes a classic supporting performance by Garry Marshall, whose explanation of the purpose of a casino to a flustered and desperate Brooks is a masterpiece of comic understatement. Brooks is not exactly a visionary with a camera, but his dialogue sings, and his near-hysterical exasperation as David is exactly right for the movie, one of cinema's most effectively vicious and hilarious satires of the 1980s. ~ Dan Jardine, All Movie Guide
Tom Tarpey - Brad Tooley; Ernie Brown - Pharmacist; Charles Boswell - Highway Patrolman; Donald Gibb - Ex-Convict; Candy Ann Brown - David's Secretary; Joey Coleman - Skippy; Sylvia Farrel - Receptionist; Pat Garrison - Roulette Croupier; Radu Gavor - Bellman; Ray Gideon - Ray; David Katz - Boy on Bicycle; Rex Reed - Himself (on radio); Brandy Rubin - Paul Dunn's Secretary; Hans Wagner - Hans; Michael Cornelison - Front Desk Clerk; Robert Hughes - Security Guard; John di Fusco - Motorcyclist; Raul Flores - Boy on Bicycle; Tina Kincaid - Model; Gayle Lanza - Hostess; Bea Manners - Trailer Park Couple; Zeke Manners - Trailer Park Couple; Herb Nanas - Mercedes Driver; John C. Reade - Casino Security Guard; Mark Sydney - Boy on Bicycle; Byron Tong - Roulette Player; Barbara Claman
Credit
Cynthia Bales - Costume Designer, Albert Brooks - Director, David Finfer - Editor, Herb Nanas - Executive Producer, Arthur B. Rubinstein - Composer (Music Score), Bill Nelson - Musical Direction/Supervision, Rick Sharp - Makeup, Richard Sawyer - Production Designer, Eric Saarinen - Cinematographer, Martin F. Katz - Production Manager, Martin F. Katz - Producer, Richard C. Goddard - Set Designer, Dick Albain - Special Effects, Albert Brooks - Screenwriter, Monica Johnson - Screenwriter
Lost in America is a 1985comedyfilm directed by Albert Brooks and was co-written by Brooks with Monica McGowan Johnson. Brooks stars alongside Julie Hagerty as David and Linda Howard, yuppies who are fed up with their lifestyle. They decide to take their savings and head out to see the country in a Winnebago, a recreational vehicle. The plan goes awry when Linda loses everything playing roulette at a casino in Las Vegas. Out of money and with nowhere to go, the couple ends up in Safford, Arizona. Brooks' character unsuccessfully applies for a delivery job at a local pharmacy and resorts to an employment agency. Obnoxiously reminded by a counselor about his high-paying job in advertising, David is placed as a crossing guard. Linda has meanwhile found employment as the assistant manager at the local Der Wienerschnitzel. Only a few days after beginning their pursuit of the dream of dropping out of society, they decide that it is better to get back their old lifestyle and agree to head to New York to look for work again in the corporate world.
Lost In America received mostly positive reviews from critics and currently holds a 96 percent rating on review aggragator Rotten Tomatoes based on 24 reviews.[1] The film was also a commercial success, though not a blockbuster. The film's script won the National Society of Film Critics award for Best Screenplay.[2]
This film is number 80 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies".
Warner Home Video initially released the film onto VHS and Laserdisc in 1985 and reissued it twice on video in 1991 and 1997. The film made its DVD debut on April 3, 2001.
