HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Throw Momma from the Train'' is a 1987 American
crime comedy film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...
starring and directed by
Danny DeVito Daniel Michael DeVito Jr. (born November 17, 1944) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He gained prominence for his portrayal of the taxi dispatcher Louie De Palma in the television series ''Taxi'' (1978–1983), which won him a Gold ...
in his theatrical
directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many film makers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...
. The film co-stars
Billy Crystal William Edward Crystal (born March 14, 1948)On page 17 of his book ''700 Sundays'', Crystal displays his birth announcement, which gives his first two names as "William Edward", not "William Jacob" is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. ...
, Anne Ramsey,
Rob Reiner Robert Norman Reiner (born March 6, 1947) is an American actor and filmmaker. As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence with the role of Michael "Meathead" Stivic on the CBS sitcom ''All in the Family'' (1971–1979), a performan ...
, Branford Marsalis, Kim Greist, and
Kate Mulgrew Katherine Kiernan Maria Mulgrew (born April 29, 1955) is an American actress and author. She is best known for her roles as Captain Kathryn Janeway on '' Star Trek: Voyager'' and Red on ''Orange Is the New Black''. She first came to attention ...
. The title comes from Patti Page's 1956 hit song, " Mama from the Train (A Kiss, A Kiss)". The film was inspired by the 1951 Alfred Hitchcock thriller '' Strangers on a Train'', which is also seen in the film. The film received mixed reviews, but was a commercial success. Anne Ramsey was singled out for praise for her portrayal of the overbearing Mrs. Lift; she won a Saturn Award and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.


Plot

Novelist Larry Donner struggles with
writer's block Writer's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author is either unable to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. Mike Rose found that this creative stall is not a result of commitment problems or th ...
due to his resentment towards his ex-wife Margaret, who took all the credit for his manuscript and received acclaim for it, while Larry, struggling to make ends meet, takes a job teaching creative writing at a
community college A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior se ...
. Owen Lift is a timid, middle-aged man who still lives with his overbearing, harsh and paranoid mother. Owen fantasizes about killing his mother but can't summon the courage to bring his desires to fruition. As a student in Larry's class, Owen is given advice by Larry to view an Alfred Hitchcock film to gain some insight into plot development for his murder stories. He sees '' Strangers on a Train'', in which two strangers conspire to commit a murder for each other, figuring their lack of connection to the victim will, in theory, establish a perfect
alibi An alibi (from the Latin, '' alibī'', meaning "somewhere else") is a statement by a person, who is a possible perpetrator of a crime, of where they were at the time a particular offence was committed, which is somewhere other than where the crim ...
. Having overheard Larry's public rant that he wished his ex-wife dead, Owen forms a plan to kill Margaret, believing that Larry will, in return, kill his mother. Owen tracks Margaret down to
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
and eventually follows her onto a cruise ship she is taking to her book signing, where he plans to push her overboard. He returns from Hawaii to tell Larry of Margaret's death and that he now "owes" him the murder of his mother, lest he inform the police that Larry was the killer. After having spent the night drinking alone on a beach during the hours of Margaret's disappearance, Larry panics because he lacks a sufficient alibi. That, along with a news report announcing that the police suspect foul play, convinces Larry that he's the prime suspect. Larry goes to stay with Owen and his mother in an attempt to hide from the police. He meets Mrs. Lift, but despite her harsh treatment of him he refuses to kill her. Eventually, when she drives Owen to the breaking point, Larry finally relents and agrees to go through with the murder. After two unsuccessful attempts, Larry flees the Lift home when Mrs. Lift recognizes him as a suspect from a news broadcast about his ex-wife's disappearance. He boards a train to
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
and, surprisingly, Owen and Mrs. Lift come along so as to avoid having to lie for him. During the journey, Larry's patience with Mrs. Lift finally runs out when she impolitely gives him advice on writing. Larry follows her to the caboose with the intent of killing her, but Owen begins having second thoughts about having her killed and gives chase. In the ensuing struggle, Mrs. Lift hangs from the train, but is rescued by Owen and a repentant Larry. She is grateful to her son for saving her, but unappreciative of Larry's help and kicks him, resulting in him losing his balance and falling off the train to the tracks below. During his recovery in the hospital, Larry discovers that Margaret is still alive; she had fallen overboard accidentally and was rescued by a
Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...
n
fisherman A fisher or fisherman is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or rec ...
whom she has decided to marry. Much to his annoyance, Larry learns that Margaret plans to sell the rights of her ordeal for $1.5 million. On the advice of a fellow patient, Larry chooses to free himself of his obsession with his ex-wife and instead focus on his own life, and write about what recently happened to him, thereby freeing him of his writer's block. A year later, Larry has finished a novel based on his experiences with Owen and Mrs. Lift, and titled ''Throw Momma from the Train''. Owen visits and informs to him that his mother has died (albeit naturally) and that he's going to New York City for the release of his own book. Unfortunately for Larry, Owen reveals that his book is also about their experiences together. Thinking that his book has been scooped once again, an enraged Larry proceeds to strangle him, but stops when Owen shows him that his book is a children's pop-up book called ''Momma, and Owen, and Owen's Friend, Larry'' with the story drastically altered to be suitable for children. A few months later, Larry, Owen, and Larry's girlfriend Beth ( Kim Greist) vacation together in Hawaii, and reflecting on the final line of Larry's book. Larry and Owen's books have now become best sellers, making them both successful writers, as well as close friends.


Cast

*
Danny DeVito Daniel Michael DeVito Jr. (born November 17, 1944) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He gained prominence for his portrayal of the taxi dispatcher Louie De Palma in the television series ''Taxi'' (1978–1983), which won him a Gold ...
as Owen Lift *
Billy Crystal William Edward Crystal (born March 14, 1948)On page 17 of his book ''700 Sundays'', Crystal displays his birth announcement, which gives his first two names as "William Edward", not "William Jacob" is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. ...
as Larry Donner * Anne Ramsey as Mrs. "Momma" Lift * Kim Greist as Beth Ryan *
Kate Mulgrew Katherine Kiernan Maria Mulgrew (born April 29, 1955) is an American actress and author. She is best known for her roles as Captain Kathryn Janeway on '' Star Trek: Voyager'' and Red on ''Orange Is the New Black''. She first came to attention ...
as Margaret Donner * Branford Marsalis as Lester *
Rob Reiner Robert Norman Reiner (born March 6, 1947) is an American actor and filmmaker. As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence with the role of Michael "Meathead" Stivic on the CBS sitcom ''All in the Family'' (1971–1979), a performan ...
as Joel, Larry's Agent * Bruce Kirby as Detective DeBenedetto * Joey Depinto as Sergeant *
Annie Ross Annabelle McCauley Allan Short (25 July 193021 July 2020), known professionally as Annie Ross, was a British-American singer and actress, best known as a member of the jazz vocal trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. Early life Ross was born in Surr ...
as Mrs. Hazeltine *
Raye Birk Raye Birk (born May 27, 1943, Flint, Michigan) is an American film and television actor best known for a variety of roles, such as playing the role of Pahpshmir in the first and last of the '' Naked Gun'' movies, and a variety of television appe ...
as Pinsky *
Olivia Brown Olivia Margarette Brown (born April 10, 1960) is an American actress, best-known for her role as detective Trudy Joplin in the NBC crime drama series ''Miami Vice'' (1984–1989). Life and career Brown was born in Frankfurt, West Germany, and ra ...
as Ms. Gladstone
Farley Granger Farley Earle Granger Jr. (July 1, 1925 – March 27, 2011) was an American actor, best known for his two collaborations with director Alfred Hitchcock: ''Rope'' in 1948 and '' Strangers on a Train'' in 1951. Granger was first noticed in a small ...
and Robert Walker appear via archive footage from '' Strangers on a Train'' as Guy Haines and Bruno Anthony, respectively. Oprah Winfrey also appears as herself in a fictional episode of ''
The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicago, Illinois. Produced ...
''.


Production

In June 1987,
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
and Orion Pictures made a trade-off agreement to facilitate the filming of the movie, as well as the development of '' Arthur 2: On the Rocks'', which was supplied for Warner Bros., and the deal was provided by producer
Larry Brezner Lawrence Ira "Larry" Brezner (August 23, 1942 – October 5, 2015) was an American film producer, most notable for producing films such as ''Good Morning, Vietnam'', ''Throw Momma from the Train'', and ''Ride Along''. Life and career Born in t ...
, who produced the movie as well as the original ''
Arthur Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more wi ...
'', and in return to use permission from '' Strangers on a Train'', a 1951 Warner Bros. film, Brezner's production company surrendered the remake and sequel rights of the 1981 film ''
Arthur Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more wi ...
'' to Warner Bros., which the original ''Arthur'' rights were jointly owned by Rollins, Joffe, Morra and Brezner and Warner Bros., and the Warners could not have proceeded with the ''Arthur'' sequel without the consent of Brezner's company.


Reception

On
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 ...
, the film has an approval score of 64% based on 36 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "Danny DeVito's direction is too broad to offer the kind of nastiness that would have made ''Throw Momma from the Train'' truly special, but DeVito's on-screen chemistry with co-star Billy Crystal makes this a smoothly entertaining comedy." On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, the film has a score of 56 based on 14 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by Cinemascore gave the film a "C+" grade on a scale from A+ to F. Roger Ebert gave the film 2 stars out of 4, stating that "The plot in "Throw Mama from the Train" is top-heavy, but the movie doesn't make as much as it could from its weird characters."


Awards and nominations


References


Further reading

*


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Throw Momma From The Train 1987 films 1987 directorial debut films 1987 independent films 1980s American films 1980s buddy comedy films 1980s crime comedy films 1980s English-language films American buddy comedy films American crime comedy films American independent films Films about dysfunctional families Films about educators Films about murder Films about writers Films directed by Danny DeVito Films set in Hawaii Films set in Los Angeles Films set on trains Films scored by David Newman Films about mother–son relationships Orion Pictures films Rail transport films