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Modern Problems (1981) -- Jealous, harried air traffic controller Max Fielder, recently dumped by his girlfriend, comes into contact with nuclear waste and is granted the power of telekinesis, which he uses to not only win her back, but to gain a little revenge.

Overview

User Rating:
4.5/10   2,010 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 4% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Ken Shapiro
Writers:
Ken Shapiro (writer) &
Tom Sherohman (writer) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for Modern Problems on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
25 December 1981 (USA) more
Genre:
Comedy more
Tagline:
A broken-hearted man + amazing moving powers = Out-of-control fun. more
Plot:
Jealous, harried air traffic controller Max Fielder, recently dumped by his girlfriend, comes into contact with nuclear waste and is granted the power of telekinesis, which he uses to not only win her back, but to gain a little revenge. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
NewsDesk:
‘Bad Lieutenant’ Trailer Stars Nic Cage And His Lucky Crack Pipe
 (From FilmSchoolRejects. 28 May 2009, 10:04 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
Has it's moments, but glaring errors drag it down.... more (39 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Chevy Chase ... Max Fielder

Patti D'Arbanville ... Darcy

Dabney Coleman ... Mark Winslow

Mary Kay Place ... Lorraine

Nell Carter ... Dorita
Brian Doyle-Murray ... Brian Stills
Mitch Kreindel ... Barry
Arthur Sellers ... Mobile Supervisor

Sandy Helberg ... Pete
Neil Thompson ... Controller #1

Carl Irwin ... Controller #2
Ronald E. House ... Vender (as Ron House)
Buzzy Linhart ... The Tile Man
Henry Corden ... Dubrovnik
Christine Nazareth ... Redhead
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents
Runtime:
89 min | 93 min (FMC Library Print)
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono
Certification:
Singapore:NC-16 | Iceland:L | USA:PG (certificate #26438) | Australia:M | UK:PG
Company:
Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Contains Dabney Coleman's only on-screen nude scene. more
Goofs:
Continuity: As Max drives away from the airport, he stops very close to a chicken truck. In the next shot he is quite a way behind it. more
Quotes:
Max: I'm starting to see things move in thin air. Like this morning, I think I caused Darcy's coffee cup to slide across the table and crash. And then everything around was shaking and quaking...
Brian Stills: You trashed the place 'cause you're mad at this Daisy chick, right?
Max: No, no, Brian, I did it but I didn't touch anything.
Brian Stills: Look, we all think we got some monster inside us that's ready to explode any minute. You break things. I masturbate, so what? Same difference.
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Movie Connections:
References The Desert Rats (1953) more
Soundtrack:
Excerpts from the ballet 'Coppelia' more

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User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
11 out of 20 people found the following comment useful.
Has it's moments, but glaring errors drag it down...., 3 August 2000
Author: (deejay_bill@yahoo.com) from Chattanooga, Tennessee

First of all, it is worth nothing that director Ken Shapiro seemingly hasn't been employed since this near-catastrophe was released in 1981. It's pretty safe to say that's a bad sign. Secondly, even a stellar cast cannot make a movie very good (what I like to call "Mars Attacks!" syndrome). Now that I have gotten that out of the way, a quick synopsis : Chevy Chase (that in itself is a bad sign) stars as an air traffic controller who, after an encounter with nuclear waste, acquires telekinetic powers, which he uses against his romantic rivals. The premise in itself is engaging and open to the possibility of great comedy. So what happened?

Well, Ken Shapiro could be blamed. The direction is sloppy; actually it is downright pathetic. The pacing is WAY too slow, the action is ineptly handled, and many of the actors seem bored. And worst of all, the special effects are woeful...I haven't seen so much camera equipment on-screen since the glory days of Ed Wood. Case in point...the scene with the Flying-Airplane-Ashtray (don't ask), where some strange, large object is obviously present in the close-ups, holding up the Ashtray next to the camera. I've made home movies with better effects.

What about the actors? Well, Nell Carter is an absolute hoot; she deserves better. And Dabney Coleman is entirely in his element here as a shady, egotistical author. Brian Doyle Murray and Mary Kay Place are also entertaining. Patti D'Arbanville is a bit lacking in comedic talent; she is given nothing more to do than pout and screech. But the real problem here is Chase. He is just going through the motions here, playing the hapless bumbler bit to death and looking very bored doing it. There is no life to his performance, and it grinds the movie to a halt.

True, there are some funny moments here...Nell Carter gets most of the laughs in a woefully small role, the scenes involving Chase's romantic rival Barry (Mitch Kreindel) are pretty amusing, and one reviewer here has already mentioned Chase's throwaway line "Smells like feet," which for some reason made me laugh hysterically...but the funny moments are few and far between. There is so much BAD to sort through to get to the GOOD stuff, and it just isn't worth the time and trouble. Perhaps in better hands, "Modern Problems" could have been a good movie. This certainly isn't it.

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