How to Beat the High Co$t of Living (1980)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Robert Scheerer

Writers:

Robert Kaufman (writer)
Leonora Thuna (story)

Release Date:

21 August 1981 (Finland)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

They're No Angels

Plot:

Oregon, 1980: Jane, Elaine and Louise are all feeling the effects of inflation and cannot afford, as the title states...

Plot Keywords:

High Cost Of Living | Mall | Intentionally Misspelled Title | Homemaker | Female Nudity

Cast

Susan Saint James	...	Jane
Jane Curtin	...	Elaine
Jessica Lange	...	Louise
Richard Benjamin	...	Albert
Fred Willard	...	Robert
Eddie Albert	...	Max
Dabney Coleman	...	Jack Heintzel
Art Metrano	...	Gas station attendant
Ronnie Schell	...	Bill
Garrett Morris	...	Power and Light man
Cathryn Damon	...	Natalle
Sybil Danning	...	Charlotte
Al Checco	...	Tim
Carmen Zapata	...	Mama
Dru Wagner	...	Harriet

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:L | Finland:K-12 | USA:PG | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Eugene, Oregon, USA

Company:

American International Pictures (AIP)

Trivia:

Jane Curtin's film debut.

Quotes:

Louise: Oh, I don't know, there's got to be some way we can make money.
Elaine: We can make porno films and all wear ski masks.
Jane: No, Robert and I got bombed out one night. We put a little "I love you" tattoo on my ankle.
Elaine: [to Jane] Ok, we'll wear masks, you wear socks.
Louise: Come on, let's get out of here.
Elaine: What do you think about a doggy bag for the butter?

Movie Connections:

References The Bad News Bears (1976)

A buried minor treasure

This movie is swimming in 1970's economy humor, there's never enough money for everything. Bills can't get paid, and a radio announcer says with relief in his voice that the cost of living went up ONLY 2%.

The humor may date it for some and make it fly over people's heads that were too young to remember the economic malaise of the late 70's (I barely remember it, my being a kid back then).

But if you get past that, what you have here is a smart and entertaining caper film where the people pulling the caper are all female. June Curtain, Jessica Lange and Susan Saint James make up the team that conspires to make a heist.

Dabney Coleman proves he can actually play a sweet guy with his turn as a Police man which falls for Jane Curtain's character. Richard Benjimin has some great one-liners playing Jessica Lange's animal doctor husband. Garrett Morris has a great cameo.

I saw this at the movies when it first came out and found it to be very funny and enjoyable. Years later I sought it out and found that it has been out of print on video for a number of years. Finally, I found a copy to rent. You should try to find a copy too. It's a fun film