Modern Problems
Modern Problems
PG | 25 December 1981 (USA)
Modern Problems Trailers

Jealous, harried air traffic controller Max Fielder, recently dumped by his girlfriend, comes into contact with nuclear waste and is granted the power of telekinesis, which he uses to not only win her back, but to gain a little revenge.

Reviews
ClassyWas Excellent, smart action film.
Micah Lloyd Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.
Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.
Beulah Bram A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.
ellawheaton This film is rated at 4.9 overall. How? How can that be? This movie is terrible. It ought to have a negative rating. Patrons ought to be paid to see it. I'm surprised a lawsuit did not come from moviegoers who felt so cheated, they contacted their lawyers. I would tell you what the plot consists of, but I couldn't figure it out. It was so disjointed. I would tell you that the lack of a coherent plot was made-up for by the humor. I could tell you that, but it would be a lie. I think there are movies that never really had a chance of being anything but bad simply because of their budget. Plan 9 From Outer Space is an example. This movie had a decent budget and it made Plan 9 look like an Academy Award winning film. There are a couple of movies that I have seen this fit this general criteria of a decently financed film that is nevertheless awful. I'm speaking of films that have come along in the last 30 or 40 years. I'll name two more; Penitentiary and The Choirboys. Truly awful pieces of work. Modern Problems may be more horrendous than either one.
TOMASBBloodhound Modern Problems is not remembered as being one of Chevy Chase's finest films, however there are some pretty funny moments in it. You just have to wait a while to find them. Chase plays an air traffic controller who just had his girlfriend walk out on him due to his overly-possessive nature. He spends the first 20 minutes or so moping around about the situation, then he is accidentally exposed to some toxic waste which gives him the ability to make things move. He sets out to use this power to win his girlfriend over and bring her back to him. The film really doesn't have many laughs that don't deal with his new powers, and the special f/x used to show them off are pretty pedestrian.There are however some pretty good laughs once Chase gets these amazing powers. In one scene he sees his girlfriend out on a date with a real jerk. Chase decides to end their date by making blood gush out of the man's nose. As someone who has had some serious nosebleeds, I kind of cringe during this scene, but yes it is kinda funny. In another scene, Chase uses his powers to give his girlfriend the best orgasm of her life while the two are reconciling at her place one evening. Chase is pretty funny as he uses facial expressions to mock the sounds coming out of the woman. By far the film's funniest moment comes when Chase disrupts a ballet by doing all sorts of things to the prissy lead male dancer. Not much in terms of Chevy's usually funny dialog is evident in the film, though. He just always seems to be in too lousy of a mood to be funny.The supporting performances are quite good. Dabney Coleman (as he often does) steals every scene he's in as an egotistical manic self-help author. He and Chase have some good go-arounds throughout the film. The two lead females do a fine job, as does Brian Doyle-Murray. Nell Carter provides some good laughs herself as she tries to use voodoo to subdue Chase. Her character is Haitian, and she believes he is some sort of demon.Overall, the film is somewhat funny. It is hurt by questionable writing, poor effects, and an all too abrupt conclusion. This is certainly a few rungs below Fletch or Caddyshack on the comedic ladder! 5 of 10 stars.The Hound.
movieman_kev Chevy Chase stars as Max Fiedler, a down on his luck air traffic controller who develops the power of telekinesis via nuclear waste. He uses said power to take vengeance on anyone that had wronged him. A mildly intriguing premise is undermined by loose, unfunny writing, horrid acting, and dated material. I couldn't even count the laughs I had on one hand. It's a chore to sit through with the only actor coming out relatively unscathed being Brian Doyle-Murray who is pretty damn good in ANYthing he does no matter how horrid the material (case in point) My Grade: D
Aaron1375 I liked this mild Chevy Chase comedy. It is not the best in the world, but I found it pretty funny with some scenes really taking the cake. The movie has a guy having a really bad day, but then he gets a little toxic waste thrown on him and he develops powers of telekinesis...and of course he does what any of us would do, he uses them for revenge. The ballet scene and restaurant scenes are the best, I do not really care for him going a bit crazy at the end, but all in all it is a funny movie. Though it does seem kind of generic in a way, almost like something that was a television rather than one shown at theaters. Chevy is good as is most of the cast and the special effects are what you would expect for a movie from this time, quite bad.