''Meatballs'' is a 1979 Canadian
comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
directed by
Ivan Reitman
Ivan Reitman (; October 27, 1946February 12, 2022) was a Czechoslovak-born Canadian filmmaker. He was best known for his comedy work, especially in the 1980s and 1990s. He was the owner of The Montecito Picture Company, founded in 1998.
Film ...
. It is noted for
Bill Murray
William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on ''Saturday Nigh ...
's first film appearance in a starring role and for launching the directing career of Reitman, whose later comedies include ''
Stripes
Stripe, striped, or stripes may refer to:
Decorations
*Stripe (pattern), a line or band that differs in colour or tone from an adjacent surface
*Racing stripe, a vehicle decoration
*Service stripe, a decoration of the U.S. military
Entertainment
...
'' (1981) and ''
Ghostbusters
''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American Supernatural fiction, supernatural comedy film directed and produced by Ivan Reitman, and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and ...
'' (1984), both starring Murray.
The film was the highest-grossing Canadian film of all time in the United States and Canada, winning the
Golden Reel Award. It is the first of six film collaborations between Murray and
Harold Ramis
Harold Allen Ramis (; November 21, 1944 – February 24, 2014) was an American actor, comedian, director and writer. His best-known film acting roles were as Egon Spengler in ''Ghostbusters'' (1984) and '' Ghostbusters II'' (1989), and as Russel ...
and several
sequel
A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...
s, of which only ''
Meatballs III: Summer Job'' (1986) had any connection to the original.
Plot
Tripper Harrison leads a group of new counsellors-in-training (CITs) at Camp North Star, a cut-rate
summer camp
A summer camp or sleepaway camp is a supervised program for children conducted during the summer months in some countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer camp are known as ''campers''. Summer school is usually a part of the academ ...
located in
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, and leads practical jokes on camp director Morty Melnick, mainly by taking Melnick from his cabin late at night so that he awakens in unusual places.
Rudy Gerner, a lonely boy whose mother died about a year earlier, is sent to summer camp by his
workaholic
A workaholic is a person who works compulsively. A workaholic experiences an inability to limit the amount of time they spend on work despite negative consequences such as damage to their relationships or health.
There is no generally accepted ...
father, but decides to run away. Noticing Rudy is lacking self-confidence, Tripper tracks him to a nearby bus station and takes him under his wing. They rapidly bond as friends after many morning jogs. Tripper helps Rudy gain confidence while Rudy encourages the reluctant Tripper to start a romance with Roxanne, the girls' head counsellor. Many of the CITs also find romance: Candace "kidnaps" Crockett in a speedboat and confesses her feelings for him, while Wheels, who had broken up with A.L. the year before, successfully rekindles their relationship during a dance, and the nerdy Spaz falls for the
tomboy
A tomboy is a term for a girl or a young woman with masculine qualities. It can include wearing androgynous or unfeminine clothing and actively engage in physical sports or other activities and behaviors usually associated with boys or men. W ...
Jackie.
A subplot deals with North Star's rivalry with Camp Mohawk, a wealthy summer camp located across the lake. During a basketball game, North Star is being beaten by Mohawk when they attempt their own perverse form of victory. This sets the stage for the yearly
Olympiad
An olympiad ( el, Ὀλυμπιάς, ''Olympiás'') is a period of four years, particularly those associated with the ancient and modern Olympic Games.
Although the ancient Olympics were established during Greece's Archaic Era, it was not until ...
between the camps, which Mohawk has won 12 consecutive times.
During the first day of competition, Mohawk dominates North Star, often winning by cheating. Crockett fails to clear the high jump bar, Hardware gets pummelled in boxing, and Jackie suffers a broken ankle in
field hockey
Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...
, thanks to the dirty work of two Mohawk girls. The score at the end of Day One is: Mohawk 170, North Star 63. That evening at the North Star Lodge, Tripper rouses the demoralized campers by explaining that victory or defeat is unimportant. In unison, Camp North Star begins to chant, "It just doesn't matter!" Day Two of the Olympiad belongs to newly inspired North Star as they win every event. Wheels outwrestles his opponent, Spaz defeats Rhino in a stacking contest with inspiration from Jackie and a thwarted Mohawk cheating attempt, and, after 12 years of North Star defeats, Fink finally beats "The Stomach" in the Frankfurter/Wiener-eating contest. North Star now trails by only 10 points with one event left, a four-mile
cross country run for 20 points. Tripper offers to select a surprised Rudy to compete against Horse, Mohawk's star runner. Rudy's many mornings spent jogging and training with Tripper pay off as he wins the race, giving North Star its first Olympiad victory by a score of 230–220.
Later that evening, Morty, Tripper, Roxanne, and the CITs sing around a campfire and say their final goodbyes as the camp prepares to close at the end of summer. Rudy has already decided to return to camp next year and Roxanne agrees to live with Tripper. The two ride off on Tripper's motorcycle, leading the buses out of camp and leaving Morty behind, in bed, on a raft in the middle of the lake.
Cast
*
Bill Murray
William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on ''Saturday Nigh ...
as "Tripper" Harrison
*
Harvey Atkin
Elliot Harvey Atkin (18 December 1942 – 18 July 2017) was a Canadian actor best known for his roles as Morty Melnick in ''Meatballs'', Sergeant Ronald Coleman in ''Cagney & Lacey'', and for voicing King Koopa in ''The Super Mario Bros. Super Sh ...
as Morty "Mickey" Melnick
*
Kate Lynch
Kate Lynch (born June 29, 1959) is a Canadian film, television and stage actress, drama teacher, theatre director and playwright.
Biography
In 1980 she won the Genie Award for Best Actress for '' Meatballs''. She was notably adept at improvisatio ...
as Roxanne
*
Russ Banham as Bobby Crockett
*
Kristine DeBell
Kristine DeBell (born December 10, 1954) is an American film actress.
Career
Born in Chatham, New York, DeBell began her career as a fashion model with Ford Models. She later moved into acting, debuting as the star of the 1976 erotic musical co ...
as A.L.
*
Sarah Torgov Sarah Torgov (born ) is a Canadian actress. She appeared in popular movies in the 1980s, including '' Meatballs'', ''If You Could See What I Hear'', '' American Gothic'', '' The July Group'', and ''Drying Up the Streets''. Her television appearances ...
as Candace
*
Jack Blum
Jack Blum is a Canadian writer, producer, director, story editor, actor, educator and communications consultant based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. With his longtime partner Sharon Corder, he has written and produced more than fifty hours of tele ...
as "Spaz"
*
Keith Knight as Larry "Fink" Finkelstein
* Cindy Girling as Wendy
* Todd Hoffman as "Wheels"
* Margot Pinvidic as Jackie
*
Matt Craven
Matt may refer to:
*Matt (name), people with the given name ''Matt'' or Matthew, meaning "gift from God", or the surname Matt
*In British English, of a surface: having a non-glossy finish, see gloss (material appearance)
*Matt, Switzerland, a mu ...
as "Hardware" Renzetti (billed as Matt Cravenn)
* Norma Dell’Agnese as Brenda
*
Chris Makepeace
Christopher Makepeace (born April 22, 1964) is a Canadian former actor, known for his starring roles in the coming-of-age film ''My Bodyguard'' (1980) and comedy horror ''Vamp'' (1986), and supporting roles in the screwball comedy '' Meatballs'' ...
as Rudy Gerner
* Ruth Rennie as Jody
*
Hadley Kay
Hadley Kay (born ) is a Canadian film, stage, television and voice actor, best known for his appearances in ''The Care Bears Movie'', '' Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation'' and ''Popples''.
Career
At age six, he made his film debut opposite ...
as Bradley
Production
Harold Ramis
Harold Allen Ramis (; November 21, 1944 – February 24, 2014) was an American actor, comedian, director and writer. His best-known film acting roles were as Egon Spengler in ''Ghostbusters'' (1984) and '' Ghostbusters II'' (1989), and as Russel ...
said that Reitman did not know for certain whether Murray would be in the film until he showed up for the third day of filming.
Eddie Deezen
Edward Harry Deezen (born March 6, 1957) is an American actor and comedian, best known for his roles as "nerd" characters in films including '' Grease'', ''Grease 2'', '' Midnight Madness'', ''I Wanna Hold Your Hand'', ''1941'', and ''WarGames''. ...
was approached to play Spaz but declined as he was already committed to ''
1941
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar Eu ...
''.
Filming took place at
Camp White Pine, on Hurricane Lake, between
Haliburton and West Guilford, Ontario, in August–September 1978.
Critical response
Review aggregation website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
gives the film a score of 73% based on 37 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "''Meatballs'' is a summer camp comedy with few surprises, but Bill Murray's riffing adds a spark that sets it apart from numerous subpar entries in a frequently uninspired genre".
[ ]Flixster
Flixster is an American social-networking movie website for discovering new movies, learning about movies, and meeting others with similar tastes in movies, currently owned by parent company Fandango. The formerly independent site, allows users t ...
Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...
of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' wrote, "With far fewer high spirits than '
Animal House
''National Lampoon's Animal House'' is a 1978 American comedy film directed by John Landis and written by Harold Ramis, Douglas Kenney and Chris Miller. It stars John Belushi, Peter Riegert, Tim Matheson, John Vernon, Verna Bloom, Thomas Hu ...
,' and only two characters of any interest, 'Meatballs' reveals itself to be a loud, off-key cry for conformism of a most disappointing sort. It's a sheep in wolf's clothing."
Dale Pollock
Dale M. Pollock (born 1950) is an American film producer, writer and film professor. A journalist whose works have been published in a number of magazines and newspapers, Pollock is also the author of a biography of George Lucas. Pollock has ...
of ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' wrote, "Record of tv stars making the transition to feature films is spotty overall, but Bill Murray proves a welcome exception to the rule. The '
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
' regular manages to sock over 'Meatballs' with amazing vitality and elan."
Gene Siskel
Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune''. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted a series of movie review programs on television from 1975 until his d ...
of the ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' gave the film 2.5 stars out of 4 and stated that it "is pleasant as can be, but there's hardly a belly laugh in it. Murray plays a nice guy counselor who befriends a lonely camper. It's all very sweet, but funny? Not particularly."
Kevin Thomas of the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' called the film "a fast, funny sendup of summer-camp life" that "is not as all-out raunchy as 'Animal House'—but it's hilarious in a similar blissfully uncomplicated and nutty way." Gary Arnold of ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' wrote, "'Meatballs' is as tartly, unpretentiously funny as its title ... As the senior boys' counselor, an easygoing role model and spontaneous comic genius, Bill Murray of 'Saturday Night Live' makes a deceptively sensational debut as a film comedy star."
Jack Kroll
John Kroll (''ca.'' 1926 – June 8, 2000) was a ''Newsweek'' drama and film critic. His career spanned 37 years – more than half the publication's existence.
Biography
Kroll was born in Manhattan. His mother was an Earl Carroll showgirl and ...
of ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
'' remarked that "this film has almost none of the scraggy, raunchy, irreverent anarchy that gave ''Animal House'' a kind of perverse anti-style. There's nothing at all perverse about ''Meatballs''; in fact, it's so cutesy, squeaky-clean that it becomes
Andy Hardy
Andrew "Andy" Hardy is a fictional character best known for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer series of 16 films in which he was played by Mickey Rooney. The films were released from 1937 to 1946, except for a final one made in 1958 in an unsuccessful att ...
with a few extra belches."
Box office
The film was a surprise hit. It opened in 7 theatres in Toronto and grossed $105,635 in its first four days. A week later, it opened on 93 screens in New York, grossing $1.5 million for the week and placing fifth at the US box office. It grossed $17.9 million in its first 17 days of national release. The film was the first Canadian film to gross more than $2.5 million in Canada, surpassing 1970's ''Deux femmes en or'', to become the highest-grossing film of all-time, with a gross of $4.2 million, winning the
Golden Reel Award for the year.
It also became the highest-grossing Canadian film in the United States,
[ with a combined gross of $43 million in the United States and Canada.] It was also the highest-grossing film in the US without any US investment at the time until surpassed by ''Chariots of Fire
''Chariots of Fire'' is a 1981 British historical sports drama film directed by Hugh Hudson, written by Colin Welland and produced by David Puttnam. It is based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell, a de ...
'' in 1982. The film grossed $70 million worldwide.
Music
The film's score was written by Elmer Bernstein
Elmer Bernstein ( '; April 4, 1922August 18, 2004) was an American composer and conductor. In a career that spanned over five decades, he composed "some of the most recognizable and memorable themes in Hollywood history", including over 150 origi ...
and several musicians also contributed to the soundtrack including Mary MacGregor
Mary MacGregor (born May 6, 1948) is an American singer. She is best known for singing the 1976 song " Torn Between Two Lovers", which topped the ''Billboard'' charts for two weeks.
Career
MacGregor was born May 6, 1948, in St. Paul, Minnes ...
(performing "Good Friend"), David Naughton
David Walsh Naughton (born February 13, 1951) is an American actor and singer known for his starring roles in the horror film '' An American Werewolf in London'' (1981) and the Disney comedy '' Midnight Madness'' (1980), as well as for a long-run ...
(performing " Makin' It", which served as the theme for his title sitcom, which was cancelled before the film's release), and Rick Dees and His Cast of Idiots
Rigdon Osmond Dees III (born March 14, 1950), best known as Rick Dees, is an American entertainer, radio personality, comedian, actor, and voice artist, best known for his internationally syndicated radio show '' The Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 Coun ...
(performing the title theme "Meatballs"). "Good Friend" and "Makin' It" made the Billboard and Cashbox pop charts (see below).
Singles
* Makin' It (by David Naughton
David Walsh Naughton (born February 13, 1951) is an American actor and singer known for his starring roles in the horror film '' An American Werewolf in London'' (1981) and the Disney comedy '' Midnight Madness'' (1980), as well as for a long-run ...
) (''Billboard'', number 5) / Still Makin' It (instrumental of A-side) -- RSO 916—1979
* Good Friend (by Mary MacGregor) (''Billboard'' number 39) / Rudy and Tripper (dialogue from film) -- RSO 938—1979
Album
''Meatballs'' RSO 1-3056 (''Billboard'', number 170, August 1979)
;Side one:
# "Are You Ready for the Summer" – North Star Camp Kids Chorus
# "Rudy and Tripper" (instrumental)
# "Makin' It" – David Naughton
# "Moondust" – Terry Black
# "C.I.T. Song" – Original Cast
;Side two:
# "Good Friend" – Mary MacGregor
Mary MacGregor (born May 6, 1948) is an American singer. She is best known for singing the 1976 song " Torn Between Two Lovers", which topped the ''Billboard'' charts for two weeks.
Career
MacGregor was born May 6, 1948, in St. Paul, Minnes ...
# "Olympiad" (instrumental)
# "Meatballs" – Rick Dees
# "Rudy Wins the Race" (instrumental)
# "Moondust (Reprise)" – Terry Black
# "Are You Ready for the Summer (Reprise)" – North Star Camp Kids Chorus
Home media
''Meatballs'' was first released on DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
in 1999 by HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
(although Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
was behind the original theatrical release and the first VHS and SelectaVision
SelectaVision was a trademark name used on four classes of device by RCA:
* The Holotape, a prototype video medium
* Magnetic tape
* VHS videocassette recorders, and
* Capacitance Electronic Disc videodisc players and the discs themselves.
Cap ...
release in the 1980s, and also continues to hold international video rights.) Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, ac ...
issued a special-edition DVD (with an anamorphic transfer, a director's commentary, and a "Making of" featurette) on June 5, 2007. The sequels did not receive the same treatment of re-release. However, Lionsgate
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...
released the Blu-ray on June 12, 2012 and DVD reissue on February 22, 2022, which retains the commentary from the Sony DVD but not the featurette.
Sequels
''Meatballs'' was followed by three sequels: ''Meatballs Part II
''Meatballs Part II'' is a 1984 American comedy film and the in-name only sequel to the 1979 film ''Meatballs''. The film stars Richard Mulligan, Hamilton Camp, John Mengatti, Kim Richards, Archie Hahn, Misty Rowe, and John Larroquette, and w ...
'' (1984), '' Meatballs III: Summer Job'' (1986) and ''Meatballs 4
''Meatballs 4'' (also known as ''Meatballs 4: To the Rescue'') is a 1992 comedy film and the fourth and final installment in the '' Meatballs'' series of films. It was shot in its entirety at Bass Lake, California, starting in the late summer of 1 ...
'' (1992), none of which involved either Reitman or Murray. Only ''Meatballs III'' had any relation to the story or characters of the original, featuring Patrick Dempsey
Patrick Galen Dempsey (born January 13, 1966) is an American actor and race car driver. He is best known for his role as neurosurgeon Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd in ''Grey's Anatomy''. He had early success as an actor, starring in a number of fil ...
as Rudy Gerner.
References
External links
*
*
*
{{Ivan Reitman
1979 films
1970s sex comedy films
1970s English-language films
1970s coming-of-age comedy films
Canadian coming-of-age comedy films
Canadian sex comedy films
English-language Canadian films
Films scored by Elmer Bernstein
Films set in Ontario
Films shot in Ontario
Films directed by Ivan Reitman
Films about summer camps
Paramount Pictures films
Films with screenplays by Harold Ramis
Teen sex comedy films
1970s Canadian films