I watched the film Moving Violations, a comedy film from
1985, directed by Neal Israel. It stars John Murray, Jennifer Tilly, Sally
Kellerman, James Keach, Wendy Jo Sperber, Fred Willard and Robert Conrad. I
watched it from a suggestion of one of my classmates when we were talking about
80’s movies. I remember seeing this a few years ago, on cable most likely when
we first got it. The plot is pretty loose as it concerns this motorcycle cop,
played by James Keach (brother of Stacey Keach) who is a by the books thug and
John Murray (brother of Bill Murray) who is a slacker just trying to get
by. It also focuses on multiple drivers
who get violations for one reason or another and are sentenced to traffic
school by Sally Kellerman who plays the judge. Of course, the traffic school is
taught by James Keach’s character so hilarity ensues. Believe it or not, I
cannot give much more than that as a synopsis because it is very involved and
has a bit of a plot twist before the end, which is quite daring for such a
comedy. It has an all-star cast, kind of before they were stars and there is
even a really famous before he was famous cameo in it as well. I won’t spoil it
though I’m sure you can look it up.
I thought it was a funny film in parts but overall, it’s one of those white noise movies or maybe one of those ones you find late at night and you are trying to unwind. Jennifer Tilly is quite sexy as a NASA employee and that in itself is pretty funny. John Murray also seemed to channel a lot of Bill (young Bill, like from Meatballs all the way up to Scrooged) for this role as well, which is fitting since they are brothers but it makes you wonder. He does his own turn but I think a lot people, my classmate included, thought he was too much like Bill. This does not detract from the story or any of the funny bits but it’s good to know that.
It is a good comedy and watchable but I wouldn’t go out of my way to see it other than to see some cameos and what the 80’s had to offer.
[One side note I’d like to say is how about how these films used to get made. I mean, think about how low budget this film was and how there are so many of these “terrible” teen comedies from the 1980’s compared to now. Was there more experimentation or was there more money to throw around? It just seems weird that that spirit has for all appearances been sucked out of the film industry now, even in the independent circuit. Unless I am looking in the wrong places.]
I thought it was a funny film in parts but overall, it’s one of those white noise movies or maybe one of those ones you find late at night and you are trying to unwind. Jennifer Tilly is quite sexy as a NASA employee and that in itself is pretty funny. John Murray also seemed to channel a lot of Bill (young Bill, like from Meatballs all the way up to Scrooged) for this role as well, which is fitting since they are brothers but it makes you wonder. He does his own turn but I think a lot people, my classmate included, thought he was too much like Bill. This does not detract from the story or any of the funny bits but it’s good to know that.
It is a good comedy and watchable but I wouldn’t go out of my way to see it other than to see some cameos and what the 80’s had to offer.
[One side note I’d like to say is how about how these films used to get made. I mean, think about how low budget this film was and how there are so many of these “terrible” teen comedies from the 1980’s compared to now. Was there more experimentation or was there more money to throw around? It just seems weird that that spirit has for all appearances been sucked out of the film industry now, even in the independent circuit. Unless I am looking in the wrong places.]
No comments:
Post a Comment