That's Adequate (1989)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Harry Hurwitz

Writer:

Harry Hurwitz (writer)

Release Date:

January 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Faux documentary about a fictional Hollywood film studio. |

Plot Keywords:

Spoof | Film Making | Fake Documentary | Independent Film

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Tony Randall	...	Host
James Coco	...	Max Roebling
Jerry Stiller	...	Sid Lane
Anne Meara	...	Charlene Lane
Ina Balin	...	Sister Mary Enquirer
Anne Bloom	...	Maid Marian
Irwin Corey	...	D.W. Godilla
Susan Dey	...	Southern Belle
Robert Downey Jr.	...	Albert Einstein
Richard Lewis	...	Pimples Lapedes
Chuck McCann	...	Lowell Westbrook
Stuart Pankin	...	Sigmund Freud
Peter Riegert	...	Adult Baby Elroy
Robert Staats	...	Premiere MC
Brother Theodore	...	Doctor Dismal

Runtime:

82 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:R

Company:

That's Adequate Co.

Movie Connections:

Features Mr. Bug Goes to Town (1941)

Unknown and unnoticed...yet brilliant mockumentary!

"That's Adequate" is a very funny, satirical romp that no one ever saw. It went to Sundance in '89 but made no real stink. The film had a very, very limited release in theaters in New York and L.A. in early '90. It came, it went... rapidly.

I first heard about the film when I saw Bruce Willis talk about it briefly in a television interview. He didn't say much except that it was a spoof on documentaries, chronicling a fictional movie studio and that he was playing himself. My local video store at that time, carried every movie, so I rented it and what I watched, was a very funny stab at the mockumentary. This was long after "This is Spinal Tap"...but long before the mockumentary went commercial via Christopher Guest.

The film centers around the rise and fall of a low-budget film studio named, Adequate Pictures, which is hosted and narrated as a documentary by Tony Randall (in full pompous mode). The studio owner Max Roebling (a hysterical James Coco), is interviewed by Joe Franklin (playing himself) and they discuss the cheating, double-crossing, and corruption Max endured to make his ridiculous films such as "Einstein on the Bounty," "Little Elroy Meets Baby Frankenstein," and "Slut of the South."

To write a full review would just give it all away, but the celebrity roster on this film is huge including...Robert Downey Jr., Richard Lewis, Ben Stiller, Jerry Stiller, Anne Meara, Robert Townsend, Stuart Pankin, Peter Riegert, Robert Vaughan, Marshall Brickman, Susan Dey and yes, Bruce Willis. The gags and the dialogue are in top form here from late writer/director Harry Hurwitz. This movie should've been bigger.

You're only bet is to track it down on VHS which is long out of print, but not highly sought after...do yourselves a favor, if you're a huge movie buff, and a big fan of this genre, check this film out...you will appreciate this film's humor...which is smart, sharp and risqué.