The Money Pit (1986)

A young couple struggles to repair a hopelessly dilapidated house.

Director:

Richard Benjamin

Writer:

David Giler

Stars:

Tom Hanks, Shelley Long, Alexander Godunov

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tom Hanks	...	Walter Fielding
Shelley Long	...	Anna Crowley
Alexander Godunov	...	Max Beissart
Maureen Stapleton	...	Estelle
Joe Mantegna	...	Art Shirk
Philip Bosco	...	Curly
Josh Mostel	...	Jack Schnittman
Yakov Smirnoff	...	Shatov
Carmine Caridi	...	Brad Shirk
Brian Backer	...	Ethan
Billy Lombardo	...	Benny
Mia Dillon	...	Marika
John Van Dreelen	...	Carlos (as John van Dreelen)
Douglass Watson	...	Walter Fielding, Sr.
Lucille Dobrin	...	Macumba Lady

Storyline

Walter Fielding and Anna Crowley have to start looking for a new house- but there's not much they can afford! This soon changes when they meet a lonely old con artist who sells them a beautiful mansion at a ridiculously low price. Only there's a catch. The second they move into the house it falls apart, starting with the stairway collapsing to the bathtub falling through the floor to eventually the chimney falling into the house! Finally, they have to renovate the house before the frame collapses but the renovations also prove to be a disaster.

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Plot Keywords:

house | dilapidated house | renovation | couple | slapstick comedy | 

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Taglines:

For everyone who's ever been deeply in Love or deeply in debt.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish Chinese Russian Portuguese

Release Date:

26 March 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Money Pit

Filming Locations:

Vizcaya Museum & Gardens, 3251 South Miami Avenue, Miami, Florida, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,344,555, 30 March 1986

Gross USA:

$37,499,651

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$17,500,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Amblin Entertainment, U-Drive Productions, Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby Stereo (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The size of the property that the house was situated on was nine acres.

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Goofs

Initially, the front door swings into the house and the door knob is inside and the handle is outside. They are on the left (as viewed from outside the house). After the door and frame fall off the house it is propped up in the doorway, but the door now swings outward. The door could only do that if it were propped up backward, which it is not: the door handle is still outside and the knob is inside, and they are still on the left (when facing the house from outside).

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Quotes

Walter: There is a house I want to buy.
Benny: Let's just cut to the chase, Okay? What do you want?
Walter: I want you to loan me $200,000 in cash.
Benny: No.
Walter: Benny!
Benny: You shout at me?
Walter: I shout at you! I need that money and you are going to loan it to me.
Benny: No, I won't!
Walter: Yes, you will!
Benny: No, No, No!
[...]

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Alternate Versions

When originally released theatrically in the UK, the BBFC made cuts of 5 seconds to secure a 'PG' rating. All cuts were waived later in 1986 when the film was re-rated with a '15' certificate for home video.

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Connections

Referenced in Pé Na Porta: Um Dia a Casa Cai (2007)

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Soundtracks

Ode to Joy
(uncredited)
From "Symphony No. 9 in d-minor"
Written by Ludwig van Beethoven

User Reviews

They testing missiles here or what?

The Money Pit is directed by Richard Benjamin and written by David Giler. It stars Tom Hanks, Shelley Long, Alexander Godunov and Maureen Stapleton. Music is by Michael Colombier and cinematography by Gordon Willis. Plot finds Hanks and Long as a young couple who buy what they think is their dream house, only to find the house falling apart around them.

Mozart is dead, his troubles are over.

He went on to be a big mover in the acting world did Tom Hanks, so much so it's always a little weird revisiting his comedy output in the 1980s because he's a vastly different actor now. Yet for many of us, that decade holds many treasures, where nostalgic fever takes a hold and a warm glow does come with watching the young Hanks bound about with comedic glee. The Money Pit doesn't have the cult worship of Splash or the internet respect of Big, yet it's a wonderfully funny picture that finds Hanks on optimum energised form. The plot might be thin and Long kind of gets pushed to one side, but this has much to enjoy with a bottle of vino and snacks. That is, of course, if you don't mind laughing at the misfortune of new home owners?! I am sinking fast into the money pit.

A number of sequences are pure farce, but in the good way, stairs collapse, as does the chimney, doors, floors and a leaking roof bring the mirth, as does a laugh out loud bath moment. It sounds a little chaotic, and it is at times, but the screenplay allows Hanks & Long, and the wonderful Godunov, time to breath life into the characters. There's a lovely romance at the core of the story, one that inevitably will be tested by the chaos of the house renovations and Godunov's third party ex. They are a very likable couple and easy to root for. Helps that Hanks is full of effervescent boyishness and Long is so homely and pretty, the latter of which I don't think has ever looked better than during a red dress sequence here.

If the foundation is OK? Then everything else can be fixed.

It doesn't have any surprises in store, it goes exactly where you expect it too, which naturally renders the final third as being all about the sentiment and the message. With the comedy gone, picture struggles a touch to put the final coat of paint on the project. But it's nicely underplayed by the actors and really this is about love triumphant against adversity. With the laughs that came previously more than making this a blues lifter for the nostalgic amongst us. 7.5/10