La grosse magouille (1980)

When the owner of a struggling used car lot is killed, it's up to the lot's hot-shot salesman to save the property from falling into the hands of the owner's ruthless brother and used-car rival.

Director:

Robert Zemeckis

Writers:

Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale

Stars:

Kurt Russell, Jack Warden, Gerrit Graham

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kurt Russell	...	Rudy Russo
Jack Warden	...	Roy L. Fuchs / Luke Fuchs
Gerrit Graham	...	Jeff
Frank McRae	...	Jim the Mechanic
Deborah Harmon	...	Barbara Fuchs
Joe Flaherty	...	Sam Slaton (as Joseph P. Flaherty)
David L. Lander	...	Freddie Paris
Michael McKean	...	Eddie Winslow
Michael Talbott	...	Mickey
Harry Northup	...	Carmine
Alfonso Arau	...	Manuel
Al Lewis	...	Judge Harrison
Woodrow Parfrey	...	Mr. Ghertner
Andrew Duncan	...	Charlie
Dub Taylor	...	Tucker

Storyline

Used car salesman Rudy Russo (Kurt Russell) needs money to run for State Senate, so he approaches his boss Luke (Jack Warden). Luke agrees to front him the $10,000 he needs, but then encounters an "accident" orchestrated by his brother Roy also played by Warden, who runs the car lot across the street. Roy is hoping to claim title to his brother's property because Roy's paying off the mayor to put the new interstate through the area. After Luke disappears, it's all out war between the competing car shops, and no nasty trick is off limits as Rudy and his gang fight to keep Roy from taking Luke's property. Then Luke's daughter shows up.

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Plot Keywords:

female frontal nudity | female rear nudity | car dealership | public nudity | used cars | 

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Taglines:

Trust us.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Did You Know?

Trivia

After the commercial where Jeff shoots up the cars on Roy L. Fuchs' lot, he is interviewed by the FBI. In the scene, he blames the attack on Iranian students. At the time of this movie's release, the Iran hostage situation was going on. According to Bob Gale in the DVD audio commentary, an alternate version of the scene was shot in which Jeff blames a different group for the act in case the Iran situation was resolved before the film was released. It wasn't, and Jeff's false accusation was still relevant when the film came out.

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Goofs

Rudy uses a spinning rod to cast a $10 bill from his car lot to the lot across the road, but when he reels it back in the line pulls the bill under the fence.

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Quotes

[Rudy puts a bumper sticker of himself on a newly-bought car]
Rudy Russo: You're going to love it, Stan. Trust me.
[the car drives off as the bumper falls off the car]
Rudy Russo: Ah, shit! There goes a perfectly good bumper sticker.

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Alternate Versions

CBS edited 7 minutes from this film for its 1985 network television premiere.

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Connections

Referenced in O'Hellige Jul! (2013)

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Soundtracks

The Stars and Stripes Forever
(uncredited)
Written by John Philip Sousa

User Reviews

simply put. funniest movie ever...bar none.

first of all when this movie came out, in 1980, (when first i saw it) was way before cell phones, personal computers, and the saturation of mtv, which all have jaded our youth of today. this was a comedy years ahead of it's time..that said. kurt russell's character assassination of a used car salesman is a direct hit. gerrit graham's performance is extremely brilliant as a superstitious-gambling fanatic, really the whole cast is incredibly funny. but it's the dual performance of jack warden playing twin bothers, with good and evil inclinations, that probably should of won him a golden globe (on that performance alone) he's that good...simply put, this movie is laughs,laughs, split your pants laughs, and more laughs. a must watch comedy. and after you've seen it you'll want to add it to your movie library. but if you somehow don't find this movie funny, then maybe you need to check your sense of humor at the door...

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Movie Channel [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 July 1985 (France)

Also Known As:

La grosse magouille

Filming Locations:

Downtown Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$8,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$11,715,321

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$11,715,321

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, A-Team, Amblin Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min 103 min (Ontario)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1