Home Fries (1998)

User Rating:

4.7/10   

Director:

Dean Parisot

Writer (WGA):

Vince Gilligan (written by)

Release Date:

25 November 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance | Drama

Plot:

Pregnant Sally unknowingly falls for the stepson of the deceased father of her baby and has to deal with his homicidal family.

Plot Keywords:

Pregnant | Heart Attack | Waitress | Superhero Costume | Confession

Cast

Drew Barrymore	...	Sally Jackson
Catherine O'Hara	...	Beatrice Lever
Luke Wilson	...	Dorian Montier
Jake Busey	...	Angus Montier
Shelley Duvall	...	Mrs. Jackson
Kim Robillard	...	Billy
Daryl Mitchell	...	Roy
Lanny Flaherty	...	Red Jackson
Chris Ellis	...	Henry Lever
Blue Deckert	...	Sheriff
Mark Walters	...	Deputy
Shane Steiner	...	Soldier in Jeep (as Tommy Shane Steiner)
Theresa Merritt	...	Mrs. Vaughan
Jill Parker-Jones	...	Lamaze Instructor
Morgana Shaw	...	Lucy Garland

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements and some sexual humor.

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

UK:12 | Canada:14A (Alberta) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:PG (British Columbia/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Iceland:12 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #35577) | South Korea:15 | Australia:PG | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Singapore:PG | Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Company:

Baltimore Pictures

Trivia:

Robin Williams was originally going to play Red Jackson, but dropped out shortly before filming began.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The characters played by Luke Wilson and Jake Bussey (Dorian and Angus) claim to be AH-1 cobra pilots in the "Air National Guard". The Air National Guard, which is a reserve component of the U.S. Air Force, however, does not have cobra helicopters in their inventory. Only the Army Natinal Guard and the U.S. Marine Corps. flies the AH-1 attack helicopter. Dorian and Angus though, are wearing Air Force lieutenant bars (blue colored) on their flight suits, not Army rank (black or gold colored) as an actual cobra pilot in the Guard would have.

Quotes:

[Instructing Sally to give birth]
Childbirth Instructor: You didn't get pregnant with your legs closed!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "HBO First Look: 'Blue Streak': Inside & Undercover" (1999)

Soundtrack:

Why Are People Like That

Drew Needs To Be More Discerning With Her Scripts

Drew Barrymore is cute and she has her loyal fans but, man, this woman makes so many lame movies. To her credit, some of her movies, like "Ever After," are nice films - no language problems and a film the family could safely watch which certainly is opposite of her wild, earlier days when she was exposing herself on the David Letterman show, and other incidents. Barrymore has since played a few more of those nice characters, so I am not knocking her. It's just that so many of her films are "Lifetime" cable TV Grade B chick flicks. This one, however - be warned - is a much darker film than advertised. It's not exactly the sweet romance story you might think.

What hurt this movie, in my opinion, wasn't Barrymore so much as it was Luke Wilson. Is there a dumber looking face in Hollywood than his? I'm sorry but with that dumb expression I cannot buy him as an "intelligent" person as he is supposed to be in this story. Of course, the filmmakers deliberately had him making these goofy faces, which is confusing if he is supposed to come across as someone with brains. He doesn't look it, nor does the script make this an intelligent film, either. It's supposed to be a comedy but you tell me how many laughs you got watching the first 45 minutes in here? I didn't get many, if any, and by then had lost interest.

Hopefully, Drew will have better luck finding more intelligent scripts in the future, or at least stories with a plot to them!