The Real Howard Spitz (1998)

British director Vadim Jean helmed this British-Canadian family comedy about former private eye Howard Spitz (Kelsey Grammer)... See full synopsis »

Director:

Vadim Jean

Writer:

Jurgen Wolff (screenplay)

Stars:

Kelsey Grammer, Genevieve Tessier, Joseph Rutten

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kelsey Grammer	...	Howard Spitz
Genevieve Tessier	...	Samantha Kershaw
Joseph Rutten	...	Lou
Amanda Donohoe	...	Laura Kershaw
Kay Tremblay	...	Theodora Winkle
Patrick McKenna	...	Roger
Lex Gigeroff	...	Ronnie Relish
Gary Levert	...	Red Allen
Jeffrey Hirschfield	...	Lawrence - Primrose Rep (as Jeff Hirschfield)
Denny Doherty	...	Balthazar Mishkin
Joanne Hagen	...	Waitress
Edward Gregson	...	Aaron
Ciel Crosby	...	Librarian (as Cathy Lee Crosby)
John Loverin	...	Bartender - Cop Bar
John Fulton	...	Ted the Cop

Storyline

British director Vadim Jean helmed this British-Canadian family comedy about former private eye Howard Spitz (Kelsey Grammer)... See full synopsis »

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Plot Keywords:

character name in title

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for language and mild thematic elements

Details

Country:

UK Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 August 1998 (UK)

Also Known As:

Writer's Block

Filming Locations:

Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metrodome Films, Mob Film Company, The, Nova Scotia Film Development Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Howard Spitz, played by Kelsey Grammer, says, "Writing a sitcom's not hard. You just have a married couple, a bar in Boston or a psychiatrist on the radio." This is a reference to both Cheers and Frasier, both of which starred Grammer as Dr Frasier Crane, a psychiatrist who hung out at a Boston bar on "Cheers" before moving to Seattle to start a radio call in show in "Frasier".

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Connections

References Cheers (1982)

User Reviews

B movie but above average

Well I like Kelsey Grammar so I decide to watch this last night. Now I know he is not box office and my expectations were not built up so I was pleasantly surprised that I not only enjoyed it overall but laughed out loud in parts – mostly from the daughter. She had the best lines! Amanda Donohoe, normally glam personified played not quite plain but lacking self esteem very well. Kelsey Grammar plays the usual and that is not knocking him, he does that cynical but soft underneath to perfection. Yes a lot of the plot is predicable but you are hardly going to see something new. The main cast play well of each other and the one-liners are thrown away in a timely fashion.

I can only think the earlier review had jet lag or bad service on his air flight. This is an excellent B movie.