I remember this movie coming out years ago. I remember
watching it. I remember thinking it had some truly hilarious moments in it. So
why did it take it coming out of blu-ray from Olive for me to remember all of
that?
Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt star as Max and
Page Connors, a mother-daughter con team. While Weaver lures men into marriage
Hewitt teases them into almost cheating with her before mom walks in to find
them and then divorce her new husband, taking a hefty sum with her. Their latest
victim is Dean Cummano (Ray Liotta), a low level mobster who truly is in love
with Weaver.
As the duo head out to find their next mark, Page continues
to badger her mother about taking on a mark all her own. But mom still doesn’t
think Page is ready to do so and they bicker about it back and forth. While
searching for their new mark Max sets her eyes on William B. Tensy (Gene
Hackman), a wealthy tobacco company owner. Page goes along to help, swearing
this is their last time together on a job.
Then Page decides to set out on her own mark as well at the
same time. Her target is Jack Withrowe, the owner of a beach bar and son of a
wealthy man. Problems follow Page right away as she doesn’t even target Jack
thinking he’s just a beach bum before discovering who he is. Unaware she truly
is what her mother has said all along, not quite ready to take on marks alone.
But more problems follow Page. While trying to handle two
marks at the same time she makes mistakes with both. She’s not where she should
be when it comes to Tensy and falling in love with Jack rather than setting him
up for the con. Leave it to mother to intervene. But then that goes wrong as
well. Toss in Dean realizing how much he truly loves Max and coming to find her
and the sparks and laughs are soon to follow.
While the movie
didn’t make a big splash when it was released it did two things. First, it made
a decent return on investment making some money. And secondly it provided a
more adult role for the then early career of Hewitt, moving her away from the
teen roles she had been used to and employing her buxom assets to move into a
more adult category. It must have worked because she is still an actress today
unlike a number of child stars who have faded into history.
As I said from the start, the movie is quite funny and more
so than I recalled. All of the actors here play their parts to peak perfection
but the one that stands out in my mind is Hackman. Known more for his dramatic
roles his part here is rather small but quite memorable and hilarious. His
tobacco magnate is constantly chain smoking cigarettes while coughing non-stop
the entire time. Subtle uses of make-up also add to the humor in his character.
While the rest of the cast is more involved with situational comedy and
wordplay all Hackman has to do is walk into a scene to make me laugh.
Olive has done a great job with the transfer here as they’ve
done with a number of titles this past year. It’s nice to know there’s a
company out there who has realized that not only the mega blockbuster films of
yesteryear deserve to remain available in the best format possible. Hopefully
they’ll continue to do so for some time in the future.
Click here to order.
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