Throw Momma from the Train (1987)

A bitter ex-husband. A put upon momma's boy. Both want their respective spouse and mother dead, but who will pull it off?

Director:

Danny DeVito

Writer:

Stu Silver

Stars:

Danny DeVito, Billy Crystal, Kim Greist

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Danny DeVito	...	Owen
Billy Crystal	...	Larry
Kim Greist	...	Beth
Anne Ramsey	...	Momma
Kate Mulgrew	...	Margaret
Branford Marsalis	...	Lester
Rob Reiner	...	Joel
Bruce Kirby	...	Detective DeBenedetto
Joey DePinto	...	Sargeant
Annie Ross	...	Mrs. Hazeltine
Raye Birk	...	Pinsky
Oprah Winfrey	...	Herself
Olivia Brown	...	Ms. Gladstone
Philip Perlman	...	Mr. Perlman
Stu Silver	...	Ramon

Storyline

Larry Donner is an author and writing professor who tutors people that want to write books. Larry's life has become a misery when his ex-wife Margaret has published a book he wrote under her name and has gotten rich over it. Owen Lift, one of Larry's students, offers Larry to kill Margaret, and in return Owen, wants Larry to kill his horrible mother. Larry thinks it's a joke, until he learns Owen killed his ex-wife. And Larry has now become the prime suspect.

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Plot Keywords:

teacher | writing | murder | student | professor | 

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Taglines:

Owen asked his friend, Larry, for a small favor...

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 December 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Tira a mamá del tren

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$14,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$57,915,972 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Orion Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Rob Reiner:  Larry's character's agent.

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Goofs

When Owen sneaks into Margaret's house, he's barefoot. Then when her gardener shows up, he has to hide behind the couch, it clearly shows he has shoes on.

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Quotes

Larry: [last line, while they are snorkeling out through the surf] Keep going a little further Owen, maybe somebody'll harpoon you!

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Crazy Credits

The credit for Assistant Sound Editor Robert Martel has a gap in the vertical stroke of the L.

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Connections

References Old Yeller (1957)

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Soundtracks

"THE HALLOWED TALES OF DELFBEAR"
Written by Branford Marsalis

User Reviews

A fun black comedy/thriller

Throw Momma from the Train, could best be described as a newer version of Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train". Stu Sliver's script was creative and very darkly comic.

Danny DeVito stars (and also directs) as Owen, a sort of dim-witted writing student who lives with his monstrous mother (Anne Ramsey). Owen's writing teacher, Larry (Billy Crystal) is having trouble with his writing career because his wife (Kate Mulgrew) stole his first book and made it her own bestseller and lives the highlife in Hawaii. After Owen constantly annoys Larry for days about his first story, he wrote from class, Larry suggests that Owen see a Hitchcock movie in order to write the perfect murder mystery novel. Owen then gets the idea from "Strangers on a Train" that he will go to Hawaii and murder Larry's wife, while Larry will kill his mother. But Larry has the motive, and with the police coming after him, Larry now has the opportunity to kill off the meanest old lady, he's ever seen, but realizes that she is harder to get rid of than both he and Owen thought.

Throw Momma from the Train, I think is a fun comic adventure, both Danny DeVito and Bill Crystal are funny, while Anne Ramsey's Oscar-nominated role of Momma is hysterically frightening. There are a lot of laughs in this film, especially the classic "One Hundred Girls I'd Like to Fork" story. Kim Griest, Annie Ross and Bruce Kirby also star, with Rob Reiner, Oprah Winfrey and Danny DeVito's own father in law, Philip Perlman make cameos. This is a good example of classic black comedy.