Diagonaldi Very well executed

BoardChiri Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Kodie Bird True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

chaos-rampant This is fun and cerebral, which is more than can be said about most comedies then or now. I don't know who to credit as the main voice behind the film, but it shows a confluence of talent that work with each other well and care to craft something vibrant with some intelligence.I'll have you imagine it as something between Rob Reiner (who produces here) and the Coens. Two writers faced with writer's block may be creating each the other's storyworld. This parallel flow is hammered early in the film with the symmetric shots of writers on their desks, puzzling about a story. Both are faced with an impossible living situation, both are hampered in their creative endeavor by a similar strain. One is a college professor, his block is largely mental, ego- recurring thoughts of his wife. The other is an unrefined simpleton who is still living with his momma, his block is this nasty woman and it manifests physically with slaps and abuse. We begin and end with the more complicated writer finishing up on the book we just 'saw'. A tad simpler and we'd be close to Princess Bride, harmless nested fiction for the pleasure of a world outside the norm. A tad more intricate and it'd be a sibling film of Raising Arizona, a dream complicated in the dreaming, with every cartoonish situation a bit blacker.DeVito's humorous omnipresence is great.

Tweekums Larry is a writer; his problem is he can't write a word since his ex-wife stole his previous novel and claimed it was her own. Owen is one of Larry's writing students; his problem is that he lives with his aged mother who makes his life hell… they each need to find a solution to their problems. Owen writes a murder mystery but it isn't very good; it lacks the basics of the genre so Larry gives him a few pointers; give the characters a motive then hide the motive… like something from a Hitchcock film. Owen thinks about this and goes to see how Hitchcock did it by watching 'Strangers on a Train'… then it comes to him; Larry wasn't talking about stories he was talking about getting away with murder; they would swap murders so each would kill somebody they had no motivation to kill, just like in the film! He calls Larry to tell him he understood everything before heading to Hawaii and helping Larry's ex fall off a boat. When Larry hears he is shocked and worried; he has no alibi for the time his wife disappeared because he never imaging Owen was actually intending to do it and everybody knew he hated his ex. To make matters worse Owen now expects Larry to kill his mother!While this isn't a classic comedy it has plenty of laughs which isn't a surprise when it stars Billy Crystal and Danny DiVito in the leading roles. The story doesn't contain anything too unpleasant despite being about murder; the strongest image appears in a fantasy scene where Owen imagines stabbing his mother through the head but even this looks funny rather than disturbing as there is no blood and it doesn't look real. There is one sex scene but that too is played for laughs as Owen hides behind a settee while Larry's ex and another man carry on while making barking noises! There is some extra unintentional amusement there as the ex is played by Kate Mulgrew, who is best known for playing Captain Janeway in 'Star Trek: Voyager' a character I can't image doing that! There are a couple of nice twists towards the end but I won't spoil those.

TedMichaelMor Danny DeVito is a national treasure. His film "Throw Momma from the Train" utterly delights me. I feel inadequate to write about this wonderful work. It is superb on many levels. "Did I come at a bad time," Owen asks. No, this film provides a wonderful time.I accept complaints by critics about the film missing comedic veins or occasions. I do not think that the script is thin as much as parsimonious so that it can exploit the gentle whimsy at the core of the narrative. Owen is really a lovely fellow, with his childlike coin collection and joy at seeing cows. While I might want to know more about his momma, I do not need to know more than the sketch she is for the story. The twist on the coin collection is the counterpoint to the oppressive mother and former wife characters.As I said, the film is terrific. First, Danny DeVito is a great character actor, comedian, and director. Second, Stu Silver wrote a sufficiently tight if not relentlessly funny script. Third, Anne Ramsey's speech impediment caused by her operation for throat cancer somehow sounds the central tone of the film. Ms. Ramsey is over-the-top but it works. I have no idea why. Third, Billy Crystal is a master comedic actor. He is an underrated player in spite of his success. Fourth, Barry Sonnenfeld, the cinematographer, is one of the most gifted people in cinema today. Fifth, Michael Joblow's excellent editing is faultless. Sixth, David Newman cannot write a bad score. Seventh, all the players, except Ms. Ramsey, play their roles straight. I love the deadpan Kate Mulgrew as she creates someone you want to kill as much as you want to kill the nightmare momma Owen deserves to eliminate. Kim Griest provides the realism that make the narration emotionally grounded.I admit that sometimes the plot does seem a tad contrived—especially the train ride. I did not quite see why the players were on the train except maybe somehow to make the title seem appropriate. Some of the car scenes might be excessive and beside the point. The repeated joke about the first line of a novel wears thin. None of that really matters. The film is close to a ten; maybe I underrated it.

evanston_dad A deliciously nasty black comedy about a middle-aged schlub (Danny DeVito) who wants to bump off his mother and hatches a plan to do so with a bitter divorcée, who wants to bump off HIS ex-wife. The movie is completely unapologetic in its cynicism, and gives us no one to like, but for once that works in the movie's favor rather than as a turn off.Anne Ramsey, as DeVito's battle axe mom, steals the show in a grotesquely funny performance. Even though she's a horror, you end up rooting for her, because it seems like she could kick both DeVito's and Crystal's asses at the same time with both hands tied behind her back.Grade: B+