Reviews (14)

"With you, never a quickie..."
...al-vays, a longie." This movie rocks. It's very 70's...disco dancing, Afro haircuts, joint smoking, Susan St. James, and free love. Who could ask for anything more?

George Hamilton has a great butt and makes for a dang sexy Dracula. Other than the George swooning, though, this is a movie that makes me laugh out loud just about every time I watch it. Richard Benjamen is hysterical as the jealous boyfriend who keeps unsuccessfully trying to kill the count. ("No, Rosenberg. That is for a vere-volf.") Arte Johnson is a bug-chomping bucket-o-laffs as Renfield. Susan St. James has a cute, self-effacing humor about her and is funny and lovable as the model who falls for Drac. It's just plain entertaining. I will definitely buy it if it's released on DVD.

Once bitten, always a fan.
I know this movie inside and out, having seen it on cable a million times when I was a kid. The concept is a scream! George Hamilton plays a rather hip Count Dracula and Arte Johnson his ingratiating sidekick Renfield. Drac falls madly in love with Cindy Sondheim, played by Susan St. James, a high-powered New York supermodel. He despairs of ever having her for himself, but fate deals him a lucky blow couched in misfortune: The local Communist bigwigs, who desire to convert Drac's castle into a training camp for Nadia Comaneci and her teammates, give Drac and Renfield the boot. The logical choice? To escape to America and track down Cindy in New York City, which Drac summarily does. Luckily, she falls in love with him, but before Drac can make her one of the undead, Cindy's high-strung boyfriend Jeffrey Rosenberg, played by Richard Benjamin, interferes. Jeffrey's grandfather -- the famous vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing, who had been Drac's nemesis -- died without ever destroying his undead quarry, and Jeffrey is determined to finish what his grandfather started. His attempts to do so backfire hilariously! In the end -- and I was so happy for them -- Drac and Cindy make good their escape to spend the rest of their "lives" together.

No matter how often I watched this movie, it never lost its appeal or its comedy. There aren't too many movies out there that are blessed with this gift.

P.S. Was the part of the wino played by Richard Mulligan of SOAP and EMPTY NEST fame? If so, I didn't see his name listed in the credits.

Is this really better than DEAD AND LOVING IT?
NO! IT'S NOT.But it is a good movie that deserves proper DVD treatment.I'll grant you the first 10 minutes of each movie would lead you to believe that FIRST BITE is the superior comedy.But you would be wrong, DEAD (and loving it) wrong.I really admire the originality of Dracula in modern day New York and Kudos to George Hamilton who is amazingly witty.But the rest of the cast is a little sour.Arte Johnson's Renfield is not nearly as funny or dynamic as Peter MacNicol's Renfield.Susan Saint James is barely 1/10 of Amy Yasbeck in terms of class,beauty and sexuality.She gives Dracula a damn good reason to desire her so.I'll never figure out why the master prince of darkness would be so taken with such a plain jane so-called model.I guess Mel Brooks himself is up against Richard Benjamin.Don't EVEN think, Benjamin is any kind of formiddible opponent to Brooks.First Bite does have it's moments from time to time.Let's face it! You mess with Mel Brooks and your just asking for trouble.I watch both of these movies around Halloween as a fun double feature.Superior production values, stronger comedy,and classy storytelling DEAD AND LOVING IT will always be the headliner.PLUS I HATE DISCO.The waltz Leslie Nielsen asks Miss Mina to dance to at the ball is charming,delightful and worthy of ownership.Whereas THAT DISCO CRUD George Hamilton travoltas to has me gripping the arms of my chair in an intense effort not to grab the remote and end the movie right there and then.If and when they decide to release this on DVD I hope that the nauseating dance sequence is one complete scene on the scene selection list so I can skip that part and enjoy a relatively good movie.However MEL BROOKS'DRACULA DEAD AND LOVING IT is the superior cinematic effort.which is coming to DVD JUNE 29, 2004. TAKE THAT EL PASO!

"A werewolf? Really? Are you sure?"
I just saw this on AMC and it's still funny after all these years. I hadn't seen it in a while, but I just couldn't stop laughing. One of the best spoofs of Dracula to ever come out of Hollywood. It's far superior to Mel Brook's Dracula: Dead and Loving it. George Hamilton is the sauve and sophisticated count aided by his bug swilling servant Renfield...that laugh still gets me. Dracula is kicked out of his castle and decides to make for America to be with his true love...a supermodel of all people. On the way his coffin is misplaced, he gets caught by a dogcatcher, and gets drunk by drinking in an intoxicated homeless man. Richard Benjamin is hilarious as Cindy's jealous therapist, who also happens to be a descendent of Van Helsing and loses his girl and his sanity in trying to bring Drac down. Don't miss Sherman Helmsley as the unfortunate preacher who flings himself out the window upon seeing Georgie, and of course Mrs. Jefferson herself as a proud-to-be black and don't mess with me "honky" judge. The setting is perfect... the clothes, the hair, and that music! This is one of my favorite films and I hope they put it on DVD soon!

Put It on DVD and I'll Buy It!
Love at First Bite is a great movie, it's so funny and George Hamilton, Susan Saint James, Arte Johnson and Richard Benjamin are all terrific.

I would like to buy this movie but only on DVD, we have DVD players now and I no longer buy my movies on video so I will wait until Love At First Bite gets to DVD and hopefully I won't have a long wait! ... Read more

Reviews (10)

This movie is great!
"She's out of Control" is the greatest movie. Tony Danza plays a great father and he reminds me of my dad. An overprotective dad who's looking out for his little girl. If you're a dad with a daughter, you are going to love this movie!!

SHE'S OUT OF CONTROL
VERY GOOD MOVIE. ABOUT A NERDY GIRL WHO CHANGES HER IMAGE AND BECOMES VERY POPULAR ESPECIALLY WITH THE BOYS, AND DRIVES HER DAD OFF THE WALL.WHEN I WAS A TEENAGER I ALWAYS THOUGHT OF MYSELF AS A NERDY GIRL, AND I HAD TO CHANGE MY IMAGE. EXCEPT, THAT WITH ME I WASN'T VERY POPULAR WITH THE BOYS . I RECOMMEND U WATCH IT WITH YOUR DAUGHTERS. I JUST WISH THEY HAD IT ON DVD IT BE A GOOD IDEA IF IT CAME OUT ON DVD. NOBODY WANTS VHS.

Great Movie for the Whole Family!
Growing up I loved watching this movie and paid more in rental charges than I would have spent on just buying the movie. Now that I am grown and raising my own family I still enjoy the movie just as much. I have to say this is probably my favorite all time film.

rather boring
Tony Danza in his usual role as the father of a growing up daughter. The story is rather boring, while the actors do quiet an ok job. Matthew Perry is in it too, but only has a minor role. Not really an evening filler and even boring for the afternoon...

Classic Teen Movie!
Keeping in mind that this is not Shakespeare, Chekov, or Ibsen here... it's a great movie! Every teenage girl should see this movie -- yes, it is a bit "old" by today's standards, but the plot is still great.

When Katie blooms into this glamorous, teen vixen overnight (with the help of her dad's girlfriend) her overprotective father is baffled and disapproving. When she first came walking down the staircase, backlit in that white eyelet dress and Frankie Avalon comes on in the background... I wanted to be that girl! Any twelve year old can appreciate this movie ;)

So... if you like lighthearted movies, this is a fun coming of age story that's worth a viewing. ... Read more

Reviews (24)

Cute!
Mr. Mom stars Michael Keaton as a guy who loses his job and is having trouble finding a new job but his wife played by Terri Garr finds a job and he has to stay home and take care of the kids and do the housework etc, it is a cute movie with some funny and charming scenes and Michael Keaton and Terri Garr are both good and the kids are cute. I give it 3 stars because even though it's a cute movie it's a little dated and it's not as cute as some other similar movies but I still think it's worth watching at least once so I recommend renting this and then seeing if you like it enough to buy.

Keaton is masterful
After he burst off the screen in Night Shift, Michael Keaton was given his first leading role in this film. He plays Jack Butler who designs and builds cars for a big Detroit auto maker. Due to cutbacks, he is laid off from his job. His wife, played by Teri Garr, has been a housewife to their three kids and hasn't worked in years. Jack and her make a bet as to who will get a job first. Of she does and Jack is forced to stay at home and watch the kids. He obviously has no idea how tough the job is and the film goes through his transformation from an inept house dad to a growing into the role. Some hilarious scenes include a trip to the supermarket gone awry, Jack's addiction to soap operas and his confrontations with his wife's smug boss played with oily charm by Martin Mull. Teri Garr is very funny as is Ann Jillian as her best friend. The real star is of course Mr. Keaton, who shows he cannot only be funny, but touching and caring. a first rate performance.

A Delightful Family Film
Mr Mom is a delightful family movie reversing parental roles where the man works and makes money and the woman stays at home and raises children. It all starts when Jack loses his job at a Michigan car plant caused by a shrewd accounting, who wants to improve financials by downsize personnel. The movie protrays the accountant as dishonest, cheap negotiator; who shifts blame by using a job enticement to get Jack too appear before a corporate board too take blame for losses. The accountant tries to manipulate Jack into taking responsibility for a sudden drop in profits and increases in costs, in Jack's old division. The Accountant wants Jack and his friends too confess and get their jobs back, 1/2 price. Jack confronts senior management and reminds them, he doesn't work for the company, anymore. The mood shifts and the accountant trys to pursued Jack too confess of siphoning funds for his own purposes; Jack wants his job back, however, he knows the truth is more important, so he stands up to the accountant and tells management, when he was there, costs were down and profits up. The movie pokes fun at the company's senior management attempts too creating short term profit gains by layoff staff and ignoring the effectiveness of middle manager, in particular Jack to keep costs down and production up. Its difficult to know, how Jack really helped the company. The Rocky analogy was a perfect setup for "Gung Ho". Revelation of Jack's skill will be discovered in "Gung Ho".
Jack's wife Caroline uses her connections too get a job working for an advertising firm tasked with creating an advertising campaign for Schooner tuna. Caroline brings Schooner back to selling "Americanism", "we at schooner tuna care", and "during this period of economic crisis, Schooner will drop the price of each can of tuna, 50 cents". Caroline is smart, if you want to move inventory, drop price; profit margins are less but product starts to sell, the cost of good don't increase stablizing against further losses, sales increase, and inventory decreases. I would say Caroline was pretty smart, maybe much smarter than Jack.
Caroline experiences the corporate climb, sexual harshment, hardline politics, long work days, and starts missing experiences with her children. Jack tells her not to forget what is most important. Jack experience mid-life crisis, throws a race against Carolines boss, drinks too much, gambles with his new female friends, gets confused while multitasking (clothes, TV maintanence, changing diapers, school dropoffs, and Soap operas). Jack becomes Rocky, cleans up his home, task command of his life, and makes a come back.
The movie is very delightful. The cast bringing humor, empathy, and friendship to the big screen.

Delightful family movie
Mr Mom is a delightful family movie reversing parental roles where the man works and makes money and the woman stays at home. It all starts when Jack loses his job at a Michigan car plant caused by a shrewd accounting, who wants to improve financials by downsize personnel. The movie protrays the accountant as dishonest, cheap negotiator; who shifts blame by using a job enticement to get Jack too appear before a corporate board too take blame for losses. The accountant tries to manipulate Jack into taking responsibility for a sudden drop in profits and increases in costs, in Jack's old division. The Accountant wants Jack and his friends too confess and get their jobs back, 1/2 price. Jack confronts senior management and reminds them, he doesn't work for the company, anymore. The mood shifts and the accountant trys to pursued Jack too confess of siphoning funds for his own purposes; Jack wants his job back, however, he knows the truth is more important, so he stands up to the accountant and tells management, when he was there, costs were down and profits up. The movie pokes fun at the company's senior management attempts too creating short term profit gains by layoff staff and ignoring the effectiveness of middle manager, in particular Jack to keep costs down and production up. Its difficult to know, how Jack really helped the company. The Rocky analogy was a perfect setup for "Gung Ho". Revelation of Jack's skill will be discovered in "Gung Ho".
Jack's wife Caroline uses her connections too get a job working for an advertising firm tasked with creating an advertising campaign for Schooner tuna. Caroline brings Schooner back to selling "Americanism", "we at schooner tuna care", and "during this period of economic crisis, Schooner will drop the price of each can of tuna, 50 cents". Caroline is smart, if you want to move inventory, drop price; profit margins are less but product starts to sell, the cost of good don't increase stablizing against further losses, sales increase, and inventory decreases. I would say Caroline was pretty smart, maybe much smarter than Jack.
Caroline experiences the corporate climb, sexual harshment, hardline politics, long work days, and starts missing experiences with her children. Jack tells her not to forget what is most important. Jack experience mid-life crisis, throws a race against Carolines boss, drinks too much, gambles with his new female friends, gets confused while multitasking (clothes, TV maintanence, changing diapers, school dropoffs, and Soap operas). Jack becomes Rocky, cleans up his home, task command of his life, and makes a come back.
The movie is very delightful. The cast bringing humor, empathy, and friendship to the big screen.

Somebody must've died...there's a limosine out front.
If you don't own this movie, get it. It is a classic. The characters are believable and real and the comedy is perfectly blended between real-life/palusible situations and that intanglible movie quality that makes movies like this great. Kenny and Alex remind me...of me...when I was their age. Jack Butler, Carolyn Butler, Ron Richardson, Joan...all fantanstic characters. In my opinion, movies of the 1980's (character/plot driven movies) don't get any better than this. My one critique is that the male stripper scense seem a little out of place. Yum Yum Tuna Bits! ... Read more

Reviews (24)

Cute!
Mr. Mom stars Michael Keaton as a guy who loses his job and is having trouble finding a new job but his wife played by Terri Garr finds a job and he has to stay home and take care of the kids and do the housework etc, it is a cute movie with some funny and charming scenes and Michael Keaton and Terri Garr are both good and the kids are cute. I give it 3 stars because even though it's a cute movie it's a little dated and it's not as cute as some other similar movies but I still think it's worth watching at least once so I recommend renting this and then seeing if you like it enough to buy.

Keaton is masterful
After he burst off the screen in Night Shift, Michael Keaton was given his first leading role in this film. He plays Jack Butler who designs and builds cars for a big Detroit auto maker. Due to cutbacks, he is laid off from his job. His wife, played by Teri Garr, has been a housewife to their three kids and hasn't worked in years. Jack and her make a bet as to who will get a job first. Of she does and Jack is forced to stay at home and watch the kids. He obviously has no idea how tough the job is and the film goes through his transformation from an inept house dad to a growing into the role. Some hilarious scenes include a trip to the supermarket gone awry, Jack's addiction to soap operas and his confrontations with his wife's smug boss played with oily charm by Martin Mull. Teri Garr is very funny as is Ann Jillian as her best friend. The real star is of course Mr. Keaton, who shows he cannot only be funny, but touching and caring. a first rate performance.

A Delightful Family Film
Mr Mom is a delightful family movie reversing parental roles where the man works and makes money and the woman stays at home and raises children. It all starts when Jack loses his job at a Michigan car plant caused by a shrewd accounting, who wants to improve financials by downsize personnel. The movie protrays the accountant as dishonest, cheap negotiator; who shifts blame by using a job enticement to get Jack too appear before a corporate board too take blame for losses. The accountant tries to manipulate Jack into taking responsibility for a sudden drop in profits and increases in costs, in Jack's old division. The Accountant wants Jack and his friends too confess and get their jobs back, 1/2 price. Jack confronts senior management and reminds them, he doesn't work for the company, anymore. The mood shifts and the accountant trys to pursued Jack too confess of siphoning funds for his own purposes; Jack wants his job back, however, he knows the truth is more important, so he stands up to the accountant and tells management, when he was there, costs were down and profits up. The movie pokes fun at the company's senior management attempts too creating short term profit gains by layoff staff and ignoring the effectiveness of middle manager, in particular Jack to keep costs down and production up. Its difficult to know, how Jack really helped the company. The Rocky analogy was a perfect setup for "Gung Ho". Revelation of Jack's skill will be discovered in "Gung Ho".
Jack's wife Caroline uses her connections too get a job working for an advertising firm tasked with creating an advertising campaign for Schooner tuna. Caroline brings Schooner back to selling "Americanism", "we at schooner tuna care", and "during this period of economic crisis, Schooner will drop the price of each can of tuna, 50 cents". Caroline is smart, if you want to move inventory, drop price; profit margins are less but product starts to sell, the cost of good don't increase stablizing against further losses, sales increase, and inventory decreases. I would say Caroline was pretty smart, maybe much smarter than Jack.
Caroline experiences the corporate climb, sexual harshment, hardline politics, long work days, and starts missing experiences with her children. Jack tells her not to forget what is most important. Jack experience mid-life crisis, throws a race against Carolines boss, drinks too much, gambles with his new female friends, gets confused while multitasking (clothes, TV maintanence, changing diapers, school dropoffs, and Soap operas). Jack becomes Rocky, cleans up his home, task command of his life, and makes a come back.
The movie is very delightful. The cast bringing humor, empathy, and friendship to the big screen.

Delightful family movie
Mr Mom is a delightful family movie reversing parental roles where the man works and makes money and the woman stays at home. It all starts when Jack loses his job at a Michigan car plant caused by a shrewd accounting, who wants to improve financials by downsize personnel. The movie protrays the accountant as dishonest, cheap negotiator; who shifts blame by using a job enticement to get Jack too appear before a corporate board too take blame for losses. The accountant tries to manipulate Jack into taking responsibility for a sudden drop in profits and increases in costs, in Jack's old division. The Accountant wants Jack and his friends too confess and get their jobs back, 1/2 price. Jack confronts senior management and reminds them, he doesn't work for the company, anymore. The mood shifts and the accountant trys to pursued Jack too confess of siphoning funds for his own purposes; Jack wants his job back, however, he knows the truth is more important, so he stands up to the accountant and tells management, when he was there, costs were down and profits up. The movie pokes fun at the company's senior management attempts too creating short term profit gains by layoff staff and ignoring the effectiveness of middle manager, in particular Jack to keep costs down and production up. Its difficult to know, how Jack really helped the company. The Rocky analogy was a perfect setup for "Gung Ho". Revelation of Jack's skill will be discovered in "Gung Ho".
Jack's wife Caroline uses her connections too get a job working for an advertising firm tasked with creating an advertising campaign for Schooner tuna. Caroline brings Schooner back to selling "Americanism", "we at schooner tuna care", and "during this period of economic crisis, Schooner will drop the price of each can of tuna, 50 cents". Caroline is smart, if you want to move inventory, drop price; profit margins are less but product starts to sell, the cost of good don't increase stablizing against further losses, sales increase, and inventory decreases. I would say Caroline was pretty smart, maybe much smarter than Jack.
Caroline experiences the corporate climb, sexual harshment, hardline politics, long work days, and starts missing experiences with her children. Jack tells her not to forget what is most important. Jack experience mid-life crisis, throws a race against Carolines boss, drinks too much, gambles with his new female friends, gets confused while multitasking (clothes, TV maintanence, changing diapers, school dropoffs, and Soap operas). Jack becomes Rocky, cleans up his home, task command of his life, and makes a come back.
The movie is very delightful. The cast bringing humor, empathy, and friendship to the big screen.

Somebody must've died...there's a limosine out front.
If you don't own this movie, get it. It is a classic. The characters are believable and real and the comedy is perfectly blended between real-life/palusible situations and that intanglible movie quality that makes movies like this great. Kenny and Alex remind me...of me...when I was their age. Jack Butler, Carolyn Butler, Ron Richardson, Joan...all fantanstic characters. In my opinion, movies of the 1980's (character/plot driven movies) don't get any better than this. My one critique is that the male stripper scense seem a little out of place. Yum Yum Tuna Bits! ... Read more

Reviews (13)

It's a fun movie...plain and simple
In the tradition of movies like SLAP SHOT and MAJOR LEAGUE, NECESSARY ROUGHNESS is nothing more than an unrealistic sports movie that's extremely fun to watch (and that's exactly what it's supposed to be). It has all of the right elements...slapstick comedy, hard-hitting action, and an underdog college football team tempting fate with a great-looking placekicker!

For heaven's sake, don't take this movie for more than it's worth...two hours of non-stop fun!

Necessary Roughness - definitely
This is one film that I could watch repeatedly. It was an entertaining story starring the talented actor, Scott Bakula, as the aging QB. It is funny, great cast-interaction, exciting game action and characters you can't help but really root for .....

Rough and unnecessary
Necessary Roughness is a humorous film that's supposed to make us laugh and cheer for the underdog. It has its parts, I admit, where it is good fun and it is enjoyable, but then it has its stupid, cliched parts that kinda ticks me off as a student of football.

Good points:
1) I think there's a good range of characters, each one has a different persona, thankfully. Some of them are pretty enjoyable and even at times believable. Especially the QB, an older guy going back to college to guide a losing team to a better record. It's a storyline we can follow and his character is pretty fun to follow.
2) I like how this was about a losing team, a nobody school, that is trying to get a couple wins, not a championship under their belt. If this had been a film about a nothing school going all the way, I would've given it one star.
3) This film has a solid plot, for a football film. It has easy characters to follow and the objective of the film is clear. Meaning, you know what it's about and it answers most the questions that might be raised during the film.

All right the bad things:
1) The dialogue of this film is so full of cliches and you can almost expect what each character is going to say because it is so scripted. This really hurt the originality of this film, the complete originality of this film.
2) The romance is unnecessary and dumb. It has nothing to do with the plot, it's just a side note that the QB is making out with his English prof. I mean, who cares? It's not as if she plays an important role and it isn't as if the romance is crucial to the development of characters.
3) The bar fight. How predictable and stupid. And naturally the team they fight over in the bar is the very same team they meet in the final game. How cliche.
4) What I wanted to see was this aging QB to have to prove himself all over again, kind of work his way up and earn the confidence of his team members. That would've added the element of emotion in this film, which lacks because you don't really care a whole bunch about any of the characters, they are just entertaining jocks. Instead, he's accepted almost instantly and doesn't have to earn his starting job, it's granted to him. Because everything is practically handed to him, all the oppertunities that is, how in the world can we possibly sympathize with his character?
5) A football film without emotion is a pretty boring film, if at best, a one time wonder and then it's dull. Which is the problem with this film. It's fun to watch the first time around, but after that, it's like who cares? This film taught me nothing because I was never involved with the plot or any of the characters emotionally. Again, it had good characters, but they weren't good enough to make this film better because they were all distant jocks.

If you are looking for a football film that's fun to watch one time, then watch this film. But don't even think for a second you'll want to buy this film to watch again and again. It's just not worth it. It's an average sports film, with poor dialogue, and lack of creativity in development of characters.

Grade: C

Pretty bad, though some nice scenery (I don't mean Kathy I.)
It's really not a good movie in spite of some decent cast members such as Elizondo, Bakula, et al. In fact, about the only real reason I would ever watch it a second time is to see scenes of the campus -- and only because it was my alma mater, University of North Texas.

A great film
All of the charaters are likeable in their own way. Scott is a great actor who I always enjoy watching. It doesn't quite follow the pattern of other sports films, and I don't agree that it's unrealistic. All they are doing is trying to win, and you will be as pleased as they are when they do. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Adapted from a popular French comedy-thriller, The Man with One Red Shoe follows a concert violinist (Tom Hanks) used as a patsy in a conflict between two rival factions of the CIA. Singled out at the airport solely because he's wearing mismatched shoes, Hanks is henceforth believed to be a mole with important information; a rogue crew of agents follows him, searches his apartment, and even seduces him in order to find out what he knows. At the same time, loyal agents--who also believe he's a mole--follow and protect him from predation by the rogues. Lori Singer plays a beautiful blonde spy with a conscience and an astonishing backless dress; Dabney Coleman, Charles Durning, and Edward Herrmann are agents trying to second-guess each other; Jim Belushi plays Hanks's best friend, a jealous percussionist, and Carrie Fisher plays Belushi's wife, a flautist who's infatuated with Hanks and wants him to make some jungle love. Hanks plays it straight and is reliably pleasant. In the hands of Hitchcock, this might have generated some real suspense; as it is, it's amusing with some good twists, some weak gags, and one remarkable bicycle stunt. --Bret Fetzer ... Read more

Reviews (14)

funny and in some ways believable
There is a competition of sorts between two groups of people in the CIA headed by the two bosses (Dabney Coleman and Charles Durney). One group sets the other up by claiming they have a spy/mole with some important information and that he's coming in on a certain plane. They leak the information by deliberately talking into the bugs they found planted by the other team. There is no one, but when part of their team goes to the airport, with the other team sets up with their men there to discover who the informant is, the team that has put the plan in motion, randomly picks out an unsuspecting passenger getting off a plane who just happens to be wearing one red shoe, which is Tom Hanks. They pretend to make contact and then, Tom Hanks, completely unaware of anything unusual is now under surveilence.

Tom Hanks is a musician who travels to different countries playing with a concert. He and his friend and his friend's wife (who has the hots for him) have just returned from one of his trips.

He is tracked and followed by both teams, one to spy on him and the other to try and protect him, his place is turned upside down, a beautiful agent is sent to get close to him, his friend's wife is hitting on him, wanting him to go to bed with him. She likes to play Tarzan in bed and makes some wild noises, which is recorded by Dabney's team and later heard by the wife's husband as they play the recording in their van and he thinks she's in it, and so on... You get the picture. Lot of things going on all the time. The whole time Tom Hanks is completely unaware of any of this and is falling for the beautiful blond. Not a whole lot of depth, but a fun little movie and actually has parts in it that are quite believable in this day and age. Enjoy!

When is this coming to anamorphic DVD?
I love this little movie. Carrie Fisher looks even hotter than she did in that bikini thing in Jabba's lair. Very funny writing and directing. The photography is excellent and the broadcast print has aged very well. It looks more like an early 90's movie, with only the blonde seeming a bit 80's. Surprisingly, this is an ensemble cast. Hanks, though at the center of all the action, is sharing time with a lot of other talent. From beginning to end I think this film works.

The real reason the French don't like us
I had high hopes for this one when it was released; the original French movie 'The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe' is one of my favorite comedies, and hey, who doesn't like Tom Hanks?

But this remake is streets apart from that - for all the mayhem in the common plot of intelligence intrigue and unwitting decoys, the remake plays it lots meaner and uglier than the original...and then is downright prudish on the sexual angles that made the original a pleasing adult comedy.

Maybe if you never saw the original you can like or tolerate this one. As for me...Sacre bleu, it stinks.

...
Man with One Red Shoe is chased after by überbeautiful femme. I get the feeling that the French The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe that this is based on probably plays the absurdity much better, but as one of my favourite movies as a kid, I can't help but give The Man with One Red Shoe five stars. It's the perfect thoroughly average movie... even The Pirates of the Carribean didn't quite pull it off.

More Fun Then A Barrel of Monkeys
This review refers to the 20th century Fox VHS edition....

Tom Hanks shines early in his career, as he gives us an hour and half of pure fun.Although this film was based on the French farce"The Tall Blonde Man With One Black Shoe", I saw it as a kind of Mad Magazine spoof of North by Northwest. Not the same story but a similar premise.

Musician Richard Drew(Hanks) is minding his own business, wearing one red shoe(the other seems to have gotten lost), when unbeknownst to him he is targeted as a spy by the CIA. One of two rival CIA bosses(Charles Durning/Dabney Coleman) has set him up to put the other on a wild goose chase.The laughs are non stop as these bumbling agents turn Drew's house upside down, try seducing him with their sexiest agent(Lori Singer),and drug him. Through all this he never suspects what is going on and falls for the girl.

On the other hand his buddy (Jim Belushi) may be headed for a little R&R as he is the one finding the bodies left behind, and his over-sexed wife(Carrie Fisher) is trying to hide her affection for Drew. Carrie does a great imitation of Tarzan's chimp.. watch(or I should say listen) for that one.

It is Directed by Stan Dragoti and also includes Ed Hermann in this very funny cast. It is rated PG, but you might want to view it before watching with the kids, there are some moments closer to PG13.

The VHS has a nice clear picture and it is in HI-Fi Stereo. This edition also has closed captions if neccessary.

Enjoy......Laurie ... Read more

Reviews (13)

It's a fun movie...plain and simple
In the tradition of movies like SLAP SHOT and MAJOR LEAGUE, NECESSARY ROUGHNESS is nothing more than an unrealistic sports movie that's extremely fun to watch (and that's exactly what it's supposed to be). It has all of the right elements...slapstick comedy, hard-hitting action, and an underdog college football team tempting fate with a great-looking placekicker!

For heaven's sake, don't take this movie for more than it's worth...two hours of non-stop fun!

Necessary Roughness - definitely
This is one film that I could watch repeatedly. It was an entertaining story starring the talented actor, Scott Bakula, as the aging QB. It is funny, great cast-interaction, exciting game action and characters you can't help but really root for .....

Rough and unnecessary
Necessary Roughness is a humorous film that's supposed to make us laugh and cheer for the underdog. It has its parts, I admit, where it is good fun and it is enjoyable, but then it has its stupid, cliched parts that kinda ticks me off as a student of football.

Good points:
1) I think there's a good range of characters, each one has a different persona, thankfully. Some of them are pretty enjoyable and even at times believable. Especially the QB, an older guy going back to college to guide a losing team to a better record. It's a storyline we can follow and his character is pretty fun to follow.
2) I like how this was about a losing team, a nobody school, that is trying to get a couple wins, not a championship under their belt. If this had been a film about a nothing school going all the way, I would've given it one star.
3) This film has a solid plot, for a football film. It has easy characters to follow and the objective of the film is clear. Meaning, you know what it's about and it answers most the questions that might be raised during the film.

All right the bad things:
1) The dialogue of this film is so full of cliches and you can almost expect what each character is going to say because it is so scripted. This really hurt the originality of this film, the complete originality of this film.
2) The romance is unnecessary and dumb. It has nothing to do with the plot, it's just a side note that the QB is making out with his English prof. I mean, who cares? It's not as if she plays an important role and it isn't as if the romance is crucial to the development of characters.
3) The bar fight. How predictable and stupid. And naturally the team they fight over in the bar is the very same team they meet in the final game. How cliche.
4) What I wanted to see was this aging QB to have to prove himself all over again, kind of work his way up and earn the confidence of his team members. That would've added the element of emotion in this film, which lacks because you don't really care a whole bunch about any of the characters, they are just entertaining jocks. Instead, he's accepted almost instantly and doesn't have to earn his starting job, it's granted to him. Because everything is practically handed to him, all the oppertunities that is, how in the world can we possibly sympathize with his character?
5) A football film without emotion is a pretty boring film, if at best, a one time wonder and then it's dull. Which is the problem with this film. It's fun to watch the first time around, but after that, it's like who cares? This film taught me nothing because I was never involved with the plot or any of the characters emotionally. Again, it had good characters, but they weren't good enough to make this film better because they were all distant jocks.

If you are looking for a football film that's fun to watch one time, then watch this film. But don't even think for a second you'll want to buy this film to watch again and again. It's just not worth it. It's an average sports film, with poor dialogue, and lack of creativity in development of characters.

Grade: C

Pretty bad, though some nice scenery (I don't mean Kathy I.)
It's really not a good movie in spite of some decent cast members such as Elizondo, Bakula, et al. In fact, about the only real reason I would ever watch it a second time is to see scenes of the campus -- and only because it was my alma mater, University of North Texas.

A great film
All of the charaters are likeable in their own way. Scott is a great actor who I always enjoy watching. It doesn't quite follow the pattern of other sports films, and I don't agree that it's unrealistic. All they are doing is trying to win, and you will be as pleased as they are when they do. ... Read more