Other People's Money (1991)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Norman Jewison

Writers (WGA):

Jerry Sterner (play)
Alvin Sargent (screenplay)

Release Date:

18 October 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Meet Larry the Liquidator. Arrogant. Greedy. Self-centered. Ruthless. You gotta love the guy.

Plot:

A corporate raider threatens a hostile take-over of a "mom and pop" company. The patriarch of the company enlists the help of his wife's daughter...

Plot Keywords:

Corporate Raider | Violin | Satire | Factory | Money

Cast

Danny DeVito	...	Lawrence Garfield
Gregory Peck	...	Andrew Jorgenson
Penelope Ann Miller	...	Kate Sullivan
Piper Laurie	...	Bea Sullivan
Dean Jones	...	Bill Coles
R.D. Call	...	Arthur
Mo Gaffney	...	Harriet
Bette Henritze	...	Emma
Tom Aldredge	...	Ozzie
Leila Kenzle	...	Marcia
Cullen O. Johnson	...	Gus
William De Acutis	...	Pfeiffer
David Wells	...	Granger
Stephanie White	...	Angeli
Jeff Hayenga	...	Klein (as Jeffrey Hayenga)

Also Known As:

Riqueza ajena (USA: Spanish title) (video title)

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:15 | Australia:M | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Connecticut, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The factory shown in the shots from across the river WAS located in Georgetown, Connecticut (part of Wilton/Redding/Ridgefield CT), and was vacant for years after operating as a brass and wire plant for over 100 years and a local landmark. The skeleton of the plant is still standing and is in the process of being developed as a large commercial and residential development.

Quotes:

Lawrence Garfield: Since when do you have to be hungry to have a doughnut? It don't taste better that way.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Other People's Honey (1991) (V)

Very enjoyable movie

When I'm in the mood for a movie, I usually go to IMDB to check out it's rating. I try to avoid seing movies below a rating of 7. Who's got time to lose listening to a bad movie, right?

Then, as I surf IMDB, I sometimes wander around checking other user's impressions of movies I've seen, I'm curious that way. And as I do that, I can also get a feel of the credibility I can give the rating system.

Well, the rating I saw for "Other People's Money" blew my mind! I can't believe it has such a low rating. It's one of my favorite movies. I love the script, the clashing of ideas and values. I love the characters, the're very representative, opinionated, true and strong, and they're very well played. The movie's full of strong scenes: Garfield's first visit to the New England Wire's Co ("I like round numbers"), Garfield's chewing of his lawyer's ("You know what happens when the commies take over, the first thing they do is shoot all the lawyers!"), and of course the stockholder's meeting scene which alone is worth the whole movie. It is one of my most memorable movie scenes ever. I seriously have a hard time finding flaws in this movie.

I've read reviews about how it wasn't true to the play - I didn't even know it started out, or was based on a play. I guess a lot of IMDB voters were disappointed in the treatment this movie made of the play and accordingly gave a bad score. My point is: so what? A movie should be judged upon what it is, not what it could or should have been. It deserves to be evaluated fairly as a "whole", not in relation to doubtful and personal expectations. I hate biased ratings.

After seing the score this movie got on IMDB, I've lost a lot of faith in the value of using the rating system as a bearing for movies I'll want to see. My advice: don't be fooled. See this movie and judge for yourself.