The Couch Trip (1988)

The escaped delinquent John W. Burns, Jr. replaces Dr. Maitlin on a radio show, saying he's the psychiatrist Lawrence Baird. His tactless radio show is a hit, and he becomes very popular. ... See full summary »

Director:

Michael Ritchie

Writers:

Ken Kolb (novel), Steven Kampmann (screenplay)

Stars:

Dan Aykroyd, Walter Matthau, Charles Grodin

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dan Aykroyd	...	John W. Burns, Jr.
Walter Matthau	...	Donald Becker
Charles Grodin	...	George Maitlin
Donna Dixon	...	Laura Rollins
Richard Romanus	...	Harvey Michaels
Mary Gross	...	Vera Maitlin
David Clennon	...	Lawrence Baird
Arye Gross	...	Perry Kovin
Victoria Jackson	...	Robin
Michael DeLorenzo	...	Lopez
Mickey Jones	...	Watkins
J.E. Freeman	...	Unger
David Wohl	...	Dr. Smet
Michael Ensign	...	Hendricks
Carol Mansell	...	Mrs. Blair

Storyline

The escaped delinquent John W. Burns, Jr. replaces Dr. Maitlin on a radio show, saying he's the psychiatrist Lawrence Baird. His tactless radio show is a hit, and he becomes very popular. But then Dr. Maitlin meets the real Dr. Lawrence Baird at a congress in London...

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Plot Keywords:

psychiatrist | impersonation | mental patient | radio | pantyhose | 

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Taglines:

A comedy of truly loony proportions.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

MGM [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 January 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der Couch-Trip

Filming Locations:

Hotel Bel-Air - 701 Stone Canyon Rd, Bel Air, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$19,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$11,005,304

Company Credits

Production Co:

Orion Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Walter Matthau and co-Screenwriter Walter Bernstein had previously collaborated on Little Miss Marker (1980).

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Goofs

When Burns jumps from the building, his stunt man is easy to detect despite the angle in which the scene was shot.

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Quotes

[Burns has just thrown away Becker's medication]
Donald Becker: I hope they have cable. I can't watch regular TV without drugs.

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: The Couch Trip/For Keeps/Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam/Rent-a-Cop/The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearn (1988)

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Soundtracks

Fever
by Otis Blackwell (as John Davenport) and Eddie Cooley
Hudson Bay Music, Inc. on behalf of Fort Knox Music, Inc. / Trio Music Company, Inc.

User Reviews

effective conman comedy

Only one comment (as of this writing) on IMDB?? Which is the ultimate example of why this is a very underrated comedy dealing with Aykroyd's escape from a mental facilitly (more like a den for misfits) and masqerading as his hated supervisor/doctor from the nutbarn. He heads to L.A. with his assumed name to sub for an unstable radio shrink (Grodin) and his candid approach garners him city-wide attention. He fast talks his way into a big contract and seems on his way. He gets distracted, though, by knockout Dixon (his real-life wife, how lucky), who is some kind of shrink-producer and also by Matthau's perceptive homeless schemer. He's onto Aykroyd and says he'll keep quiet if Dan splits the cash with him. That's just a little of what's going on in this busy little conman adventure, as at the same time Grodin is getting wise with the real doctor Aykroyd is impersonating. And Grodin's wife is also involved with his lawyer, who is seeing dollar signs in Aykroyd, as well is a kiss-butt producer, and annoyingly assisting Grodin is Clennon, the real doctor who is supposed to be replacing him. There are a lot of great jabs at the psychiatry profession, and the entertainment business, the best being the short but very memorable scene where Aykroyd takes calls on the radio, one of the funniest scenes I've ever watched. Unfortunately, the film ends abruptly and could've used a better knock out blow. But, from beginning to (near) end this provides a lot of solid laughs and it's too bad that the kind of plot it has doesn't permit another trip to the couch.