''Sibling Rivalry'' is a 1990

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

film directed by

Carl Reiner Carl Reiner (March 20, 1922 – June 29, 2020) was an American actor, stand-up comedian, director, screenwriter, and author whose career spanned seven decades. He was the recipient of many awards and honors, including 11 Primetime Emmy Awards, ...

and starring

Kirstie Alley Kirstie Louise Alley (January 12, 1951 – December 5, 2022) was an American actress. Her breakout role was as Rebecca Howe in the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1987–1993), for which she received an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe in 1991. From 1997 ...

Sam Elliott Samuel Pack Elliott (born August 9, 1944) is an American actor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including a National Board of Review Award, and has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Aw ...

Jami Gertz Jami Beth Gertz (born October 28, 1965) is an American actress. Gertz is known for her early roles in the films ''Crossroads'', ''The Lost Boys'', '' Less than Zero'' and '' Quicksilver'', the 1980s TV series ''Square Pegs'' and 1996's ''Twister ...

Bill Pullman William Pullman (born December 17, 1953) is an American actor. After graduating with a Master of Fine Arts degree in theater, he was an adjunct professor at Montana State University before deciding to pursue acting. He made his film debut in ''R ...

Carrie Fisher Carrie Frances Fisher (October 21, 1956 – December 27, 2016) was an American actress and writer. She played Princess Leia in the ''Star Wars'' films (1977–1983). She reprised the role in'' Star Wars: The Force Awakens'' (2015), ''The Last ...

, and

Scott Bakula Scott Stewart Bakula (; born October 9, 1954) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in two science-fiction television series: as Sam Beckett on ''Quantum Leap'' and as Captain Jonathan Archer on ''Star Trek: Enterprise''. For ''Quantum L ...

Plot

Marjorie Turner has been married for eight years and is tired of her husband Harry's neglect and his snooty relatives, most of them doctors. One day her sister, Jeanine, urges her to break out of her rut and have a fling. At a grocery store, Marjorie allows herself to be picked up for a quick sexual tryst. Unfortunately, her lover dies during the act. Even more unfortunately, the dead man turns out to be Harry's long-absent brother Charles. Complications ensue, some of them involving a

vertical blinds A window blind is a type of window covering. There are many different kinds of window blinds which use a variety of control systems. A typical window blind is made up of several long horizontal or vertical slats of various types of hard mater ...

salesman named Nick. He was in the hallway, wanting to get into a room to install blinds so he could convince the hotel to invest in them. When Marjorie leaves the room, she inadvertantly both drops her wallet and leaves the door ajar. Thinking he's in luck, Nick gets to work hanging the blinds. Halfway through a pole slips, hitting the lifeless man in the bed. Feeling responsible for the man's death, he calls Marjorie as he assumes she's his wife. Marjorie goes to the hotel room to get her wallet back, and she and Nick panic, so they decide to make it look like a suicide. She writes a suicide note, and they empty bottles of pills down his throat. From home, she calls 911 to report the death. When police arrive, Nick is in the room and insists it must have been a prank. His brother Wilbur is a police officer investigating the case. He meets Jeanine while investigating the 911 call. They have chemistry and become involved. The autopsy reveals the non-lethal pills in Charles's esophagus as well as possible evidence of cardiac arrest. In the meantime, Nick has confessed to accidentally hitting Charles in the head with the blind hardware. Calling a family meeting, Harry fills them in on the investigation, Jeanine bursts in, telling Marjorie about Nick protecting her by confessing. Marjorie comes clean in front of everyone, and when Harry's family hears they attack her. He tells them to get out. Shortly after, he both leaves the practise and moves away. Months later, things are looking up for the siblings. Nick finally becomes successful selling blinds, Wilbur has become police chief and Jeanine moves in with him. Marjorie gets the story about her, Harry and Charles published and Harry comes back after having opened his own practise to start over.

Cast

as Marjorie Turner *

as Jeanine, Marjorie's sister *

as Nicholas Meany *

Ed O'Neill Edward Leonard O'Neill (born April 12, 1946) is an American actor and comedian. His roles include Al Bundy on the Fox Network sitcom '' Married... with Children'', for which he was nominated for two Golden Globes, and Jay Pritchett on the awar ...

as Wilbur Meany, Nicholas's brother *

as Iris Turner-Hunter, Harry's sister *

as Harry Turner, Marjorie's husband *

Frances Sternhagen Frances Hussey Sternhagen (born January 13, 1930) is an American actress; she has appeared on- and off-Broadway, in movies, and on TV since the 1950s.Joy, Car"Frances Sternhagen in Talks to Join Company of Broadway Magnolias" Broadway.com, Nov ...

as Rose Turner, Harry's mother * John Randolph as Charles Turner, Sr., Harry's father *

as Charles Turner, Jr., Harry's brother

Production

Principal photography began on April 16, 1990, and ended on June 21, 1990. Filming took place in and Los Angeles & Marin County, California. Interior scenes were filmed on set at Warner Bros Studios.

Release

''Sibling Rivalry'' was released on October 26, 1990 in 1,448 theatres. It opened at #2 at the box office, grossing $4 million in its opening weekend. It stayed at #2 in its second weekend grossing $8.424.402. After three months in theatres, the film went on to gross $17,854,933 in its theatrical run.

Reception

The film received negative reviews from critics and has a 25% rating 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 ...

from 12 reviews.

References

External links

* * * * 1990 films 1990s black comedy films American black comedy films Castle Rock Entertainment films Columbia Pictures films 1990s English-language films Films about siblings Films directed by Carl Reiner Films scored by Jack Elliott Films shot in California Films shot in Los Angeles 1990 comedy films 1990s American films {{1990s-comedy-film-stub