Throw Momma from the Train | | Cast : | Danny DeVito, Billy Crystal | | Director : | Danny DeVito | | Studio : | MGM/UA Video | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen | | Released Date : | December 11, 1987 | | DVD Released Date : | May 08, 2001 | | Language : | Unknown (Dubbed), English (Dubbed), French (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language), French (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | May 01, 2005 | | Summary | "Get Me A Chunky" | Content
 | Paying homage to Alfred Hitchcock's suspense classic, Stangers On A Train, is the 1987 dark comedy Throw Momma From The Train. It's been such a long time since I sat down to watch this, that I had forgotten just how good it is, and how much the late great Anne Ramsey made it work.
Writing teacher Larry Donner (Billy Crystal) and his student Ownen Lift (Danny DeVito) have a lot in common: the women in their lives are driving them completely nuts. Larry's ex-wife Margaret (Kate Mulgrew) stole his novel and made it her own bestseller, even appearing on Oprah. While Owen's mother (Ramsey) is nagging, dammanding and controls every move he makes But Owen has a plan to solve both of their problems... He'll murder Margaret while Larry sends Momma to her maker. But even as Owen fulfills his end of the deal, Larry's left with no alibi and the obligation to knock off the nasty old lady.
Written by Stu Silver, who produced for sit-coms like Soap and Bosom Buddies, was helped tremendously by a cast and director who just elevated the material. I can't imagine how things would have turned out, if other people had worked on the film. Crystal and DeVito work well off of each other here, giving Crystal a chance to play it straight, while DeVito plays it mild mannered and hapless. As good as those two are, it's Ramsey that steals the show. Somehow she gets you to both hate and love her at the same time. She is also responsible for getting the film's biggest laughs. Who knew that bellowing out the name Owen could be so funny? Kudos to DeVito for making the tasks of both actor and director look easy.
The extras on the DVD were a suprise. While one can enjoy a few deleted scenes from the film, and the original theatrical trailer, I was hoping for a little more substance. A Devito/Crystal commentary track may have been fun.
Dark comidies like Throw Momma From The Train will not be everyone's cup of tea. But for those who enjoyed To Die For and I Love You To Death will have no problem getting into the spririt of things.
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| Rating | | | Date | March 19, 2005 | | Summary | Off the Wall, Off the Hook . . . . Very Clever | Content
| In my opinion, this is one of the best films of all time. It is timeless and there is nothing else like it. The story and the characters are completely off the wall, Momma is off the hook, and the movie is very clever.
This is one of the few movies I own and have actually watched more than once or twice. It is a short movie and there is never a dull moment. Billy Crystal and Danny DeVito are great in this movie, but it is Momma (Anne Ramsey) who makes the movie so funny, so unforgettable, and so quotable.
The movie is just the right length, and nothing drags on. When there is nothing else to watch, this movie is as funny the fifth time as it was the first, if not more so. It is always worth having this movie around just to be able to press play and hear Momma scream "Ooooowen!" for a laugh. "Throw Momma from the Train" is a true classic. |
| Rating | | | Date | November 19, 2004 | | Summary | What a Momma! | Content
| Despite the dark story that lurks behind the comedy in this film it is entirely entertaining from beginning to end.
Larry (Billy Crystal) is a creative writing teacher with a class full of inept writers. He is divorced from a woman (Kate Mulgrew) who has taken his novel and "written" it herself and is now receiving all the glory. Larry is stewing. One of Larry's students, Owen (Danny DeVito), becomes obsessed with a murder mystery he is working on and he follows Larry around hoping for a moment of his attention. Owen has issues....his Momma (Anne Ramsey). The fun begins with a mistaken clue being taken by Owen to mean that he and Larry should criss-cross their anger and murder one another's nemesis and it all leads to a completely amusing journey into the dark part of a suffering mind.
Danny DeVito is the king of black comedy and here he stars and directs with a talented ability to find humor in the darkest desires. Along with Billy Crystal they complete a madcap comedy duo in search of some relief from those who taunt their insecurities. The stand out talent in this film is of course Anne Ramsey, who as Momma, will make you roar with laughter....you stupid poop! For you writers out there this movie takes a great look at the inevitable block that stares us in the face every now and then. Get ready to laugh and store this classic close at hand to re-watch time and again when your own heart feels a little heavy and you need a dose of Momma to ease the pain.
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| Rating | | | Date | October 16, 2004 | | Summary | Finally added this classic to my DVD collection | Content
| Really, how can you go wrong? Billy Crystal and Danny Devito in their primes. I still hear the old lady's voice in my head whenever I hear the name Owen. This movie is hysterical, both in situational and physical comedy. Devito and Crystal made a good team, it would have been nice to see them work on another film together. Owen's mother is played by the same woman who played Mama Fratelli in the Goonies. A great character actress, she makes you hate her as soon as she makes her entrance. Devito is wonderful in his portrayal of an immature man who stills lives with his mother and can't seem to stand up on his own. Crystal plays one of his classic type roles, similar to the Albert Brooks characters, the whiny and frustrated average Joe. A very fun dark comedy, one that every comedy fan should own. |
| Rating | | | Date | October 03, 2004 | | Summary | Oh I'm so glad I bought this movie! | Content
| I saw this many years ago and never forgot how funny it is. Danny DeVito is as funny as they come as the little man abused by his old hag mother whom he lives with. And where in the world did they EVER find such a hideous old lady to play his horrible mother? She calls out to him such abuse as, "Get a move on lardass!" And hollers out "BATH!" when she wants him to give her a bath. I almost split my sides when he blows a trumpet full blast right into her ear (you just have to see it, it doesn't sound too funny I guess). He gets in some funny situations when he tries to kill his creative writing teacher's hated ex-wife, thinking this would make his teacher kill his mother as part of a deal they made. He ends up hiding behind a sofa while she makes love to her boyfriend and is so blase he reads a magazine while they go at it on the sofa. But the truely side-splitting parts are when DeVito imagines what he would like to do to his wretched mother when she yells commands at him such as "I have a wax ball in my ear. Get it out!" I can't imagine anyone else in the world playing the abused adult son as well as DeVito in this. He is cute and childlike while being scheming and murderous. How does he make his eyes glow and sparkle like that? If you like movies that really make you laugh out loud then see this one! |
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