Funny Farm (1988)

A couple swap city life for the country, but their picturesque new hometown turns out to be just a little bit different to what they were expecting.

Director:

George Roy Hill

Writers:

Jay Cronley (book), Jeffrey Boam (screenplay)

Stars:

Chevy Chase, Madolyn Smith Osborne, Kevin O'Morrison

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Chevy Chase	...	Andy Farmer
Madolyn Smith Osborne	...	Elizabeth Farmer (as Madolyn Smith)
Kevin O'Morrison	...	Sheriff Ledbetter
Joseph Maher	...	Michael Sinclair
Jack Gilpin	...	Bud Culbertson
Caris Corfman	...	Betsy Culbertson
William Severs	...	Newspaper Editor
Mike Starr	...	Crocker
Glenn Plummer	...	Mickey
William Duell	...	Old Character
Helen Lloyd Breed	...	Old Operator
Kit Le Fever	...	Young Operator (as Le Fevre)
Dakin Matthews	...	Marion Corey Jr.
William Newman	...	Gus Lotterhand
Alice Drummond	...	Mrs. Ethel Dinges

Storyline

When Andy and Elizabeth buy a farm in Vermont, they can't imagine the trouble that awaits them. Andy has quit his job as a sports journalist and is planning to use the peace and quiet of the country to write the Great American Novel. From the moment the movers' truck gets lost with their furniture, though, there's little peace and less quiet. From a manical mailman to a dead body buried in the garden, Andy is distracted by the town and its wacky inhabitants. His effort at a novel is mediocre, at best, and he's threatened by Elizabeth's foray into writing when she attempts a children's book. Can the Farmers survive the townsfolk and each other?

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Plot Keywords:

slapstick comedy | vermont | mailman | children's book | small town | 

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Taglines:

Chevy Chase finds life in the country isn't what it's cracked up to be!

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 June 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Aventuras y desventuras de un yuppie en el campo

Filming Locations:

The Apthorp building - 2211 Broadway, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$19,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$25,537,221

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cornelius Productions,Pan Arts,Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of two major Hollywood country-set comedies released in 1988, the other movie was The Great Outdoors (1988). Both pictures debuted in the same month, June 1988, two weeks apart.

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Goofs

The 1955 MG TF1500 that Andy drives does not show reverse lights. This option was not standard equipment, but would have been required for the car to pass state inspection.

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Quotes

Crocker: [reacting to Andy's anger about them, the movers, being late] You slept on the floor huh? We slept outside with the bugs and the wild animals. A bridge nearly killed us. Nobody knows where the hell Redbud is. And we haven't eaten since yesterday morning. So stay the hell out of our way and keep your mouth *shut*!

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Connections

Referenced in Siskel & Ebert: Fletch Lives/Slaves of New York/Leviathan/Rooftops/Police Academy 6: City Under Siege (1989)

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Soundtracks

Silent Night
(uncredited)
Written by Franz Xaver Gruber (as Franz Xaver Gruber) and Joseph Mohr
Performed by Redbud Choir

User Reviews

Would you like Lamb Fries with that?

Chevy Chase is normally associated with the Caddyshack, Fletch and Vacation series meaning that his one-shot movies mostly fall by the wayside. Films like Spies Like Us, Nothing But Trouble and Funny Farm have went largely unseen since the advent of DVD in 1997. Neither of these movies have received widescreen releases and have been out of print for years. I was beginning to wonder what Warner had against giving them definitive releases until I discovered an HD master of Funny Farm on the PlayStation Network.

I saw it only once, when I was about 9, and remembered very little. If you're a fan of Clark Griswold then Andy Farmer isn't too far removed. Andy is a sports journalist who retires from the big city to the Redbud, Vermont hoping to enjoy and idyllic, peaceful life and finally write the great, American novel (The Big Heist). When he gets there he and his wife discover that almost everyone and everything is weirder than the last. There are giant snakes in their pond, a dead body buried in their garden, a Sheriff who can't drive, a crazy mailman and a town who basically hate them. And top of all this Andy has severe writer's block while his wife manages to churn out a successful children's novel without really trying.

With careful, measured direction from George Roy Hill (Butch Cassidy, The Sting) Funny Farm, based on a novel by Jay Cronley, manages to be a little classier than Chase's usual fare. This makes the lack of a home video version even more puzzling. It has never been released on DVD in the UK, and the 1989 VHS is long gone. If you have access to the PlayStation Network then go for it. I have a funny feeling that Funny Farm and Spies Like Us will probably be released as a Warner Blu Ray Double Feature in the near future, but nothing has been announced so far.

Don't let the mistreatment of this film put you off, it lives up to it's title and is the perfect vehicle for Chevy Chase and his goofy humour.