The 'burbs (1989)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Joe Dante

Writer (WGA):

Dana Olsen (written by)

Release Date:

17 February 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

A comedy about one nice guy who gets pushed too far.

Plot:

An overstressed suburbanite and his paramilitaric neighbor struggle to prove their paranoid theory that the new family in town is a front for a cannibalistic cult.

Plot Keywords:

Neighbor | Basement | Wig | Reference To Pinocchio | Occult

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Tom Hanks	...	Ray Peterson
Bruce Dern	...	Mark Rumsfield
Carrie Fisher	...	Carol Peterson
Rick Ducommun	...	Art Weingartner
Corey Feldman	...	Ricky Butler
Wendy Schaal	...	Bonnie Rumsfield
Henry Gibson	...	Dr. Werner Klopek
Brother Theodore	...	Uncle Reuben Klopek
Courtney Gains	...	Hans Klopek
Gale Gordon	...	Walter Seznick
Dick Miller	...	Vic, Garbageman #1
Robert Picardo	...	Joe, Garbageman #2
Cory Danziger	...	Dave Peterson
Franklyn Ajaye	...	Detective #1
Rance Howard	...	Detective #2

Also Known As:

Life in the Burbs (USA) (original script title)

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:12 | UK:12 | Canada:14A (Ontario) | USA:PG (Certificate #29589) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Sweden:11 (cut) | UK:PG (cut) | USA:PG | West Germany:16 | Spain:13 | Singapore:PG | Netherlands:12

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Imagine Entertainment

Trivia:

Ray Peterson's (Tom Hanks) final "It's not them. It's us!" rant is used in Portland, Oregon musician Eluvium (Matthew Cooper)'s song "A I Drift Off" on his 2006 album "When I Live by the Garden and the Sea".

Goofs:

Continuity: Carol shows up at the end of the film with a shorter haircut, on which Ray comments. However, in her last scene of the film, her hair is back to its original length.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Carol Peterson: Ray. Ray, where are you going? Come back to bed.

Movie Connections:

References Die Hard (1988)

Soundtrack:

QUESTA O QUELLA

Ducommun Delivers In One Of My All-Time Favorites

Sometimes a bizarre comedy just hits the right notes with me and, despite none of my friends liking it, I love it. This is a premier example of such: one of my favorites in that category. The fact others don't share that opinion doesn't bother me, but I am glad to see reviewers on this site who appreciated this black, very underrated gem.

I always get a big kick out of this film, no matter how many times I see it.I credit a little-known actor for making this so entertaining to me: Rick Ducommun. I think he steals the show from well-known stars Tom Hanks, Bruce Dern, Carrie Fisher and Corey Feldman.

Actually, I think this film is panned a lot because they didn't expect Hanks to be in something this goofy. Too bad, but I bet he had a lot fun making it, along with the rest of the cast.

Ducommun and Dern are the hilarious wackos who try to help straight-laced Hanks find out about the really-strange neighbors he has next door. Are these people some demented killers or just the figment of these nosy neighbors' imagination? Fisher is Hanks' always-complaining wife and Feldman is the teen across the street who watches all the lunacy from his porch, getting his getting nightly entertainment from these crazy adults.

Director Joe Dante, of "Gremlins" fame, does a good job entertaining us in here, too, and providing some fun camera-work. Dante also used music to great advantage, mostly for humor.

This is one of those "not for all tastes" films, so chances are you won't like it and think it's stupid. For a number of reasons, I love it.