Big Business (1988)

Two couples of sisters from New York and from the countryside discover that they are connected in an incredible way.

Director:

Jim Abrahams

Writers:

Dori Pierson, Marc Reid Rubel (as Marc Rubel)

Stars:

Bette Midler, Lily Tomlin, Fred Ward

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bette Midler	...	Sadie Shelton / Sadie Ratliff
Lily Tomlin	...	Rose Shelton / Rose Ratliff
Fred Ward	...	Roone Dimmick
Edward Herrmann	...	Graham Sherbourne
Michele Placido	...	Fabio Alberici
Daniel Gerroll	...	Chuck
Barry Primus	...	Michael
Michael Gross	...	Dr. Jay Marshall
Deborah Rush	...	Binky Shelton
Nicolas Coster	...	Hunt Shelton
Patricia Gaul	...	Iona Ratliff
J.C. Quinn	...	Garth Ratliff
Norma MacMillan	...	Nanny Lewis
Joe Grifasi	...	Desk Clerk
John Vickery	...	Hotel Manager

Storyline

In the 1940s in the small town of Jupiter Hollow, two sets of identical twins are born in the same hospital on the same night. One set to a poor local family and the other to a rich family just passing through. The dizzy nurse on duty accidentally mixes the twins unbeknown to the parents. Our story flashes forward to the 1980s where the mismatched sets of twins are about to cross paths following a big business deal to closedown the Jupiter Hollow factory.

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Plot Keywords:

neo screwball comedy | twin | identical twins | nurse | small town | 

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Taglines:

Mixed up at birth, two sets of twins finally meet their match.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

10 June 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sopa de gemelas

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$40,150,487

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures,Silver Screen Partners III

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The name of the place in West Virginia where both sets of twins were born was "Jupiter Hollow". "Jane Lew", the town where the doctor provides direction to the closest hospital, is an actual town in West Virginia. "Jupiter Hollow" is a commune, less than eight miles from "Jane Lew", in the town of Weston, WV.

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Goofs

When Sadie and Rose are square dancing on stage, the man sitting in the first row has on dark Nike sneakers. The next shot of him shows him in white shoes and when the dancing moves to the audience, he is again in his dark shoes.

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Quotes

Sadie Shelton: My God it's me with a bad haircut.
Sadie Ratliff: Bad? I paid twelve bucks for this.
Rose Ratliff: I am gonna kick your ass!

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Crazy Credits

Seen about two-thirds of the way through the credits: Don't Go, It's Almost Over

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Connections

Referenced in Difficult People: The Courage of a Soldier (2015)

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Soundtracks

Higher Love
Written by Steve Winwood and Will Jennings
Performed by Steve Winwood
Courtesy of Island Records

User Reviews

Strangely overlooked cerebral farce.

That this 1988 movie contains 2 sympathetic, non-stereotypical gay characters says a lot about the movie makers. There seems to have been some real care taken over what could've ended up a cheaply made throwaway farce.

Lily Tomlin and Bette Midler are simply superb in their roles as separated twins and in my view out-do Jeremy Irons in that year's other twin movie `Dead Ringers' - and he was fantastic.

This film has been criticised for not delivering laughs where you would predict them based on the film's premise. But is that a fault? Big Business builds comedic tension early on and sustains it throughout by clever use of supporting characters and the subtle way that from their scenes with them we learn about the 4 leads.

The eternal dilemma of nature v nurture is portrayed in a fairly non-preachy way coupled with a similar approach to town v country. To do this in a farce containing 4 romances plus all the rest is a tall order for any moviemaker but this rich premise is cleverly negotiated by Jim Abrahams & the writers with only a handful of misfires.

Now I'm not one for romances but the studly Fred Ward, who was unbelievably 46 years old at the time, as the whiter than white Roone Dimmick, manages an amazing feat - his meeting and courting of Lily Tomlin in the space of a few minutes is carried off quite plausibly by this accomplished and underrated actor and is a joy to behold.

10 out of 10 and a real shame that there is no more from these 2 writers.