Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Wow.This is possibly the most underrated/unknown comedies out there.I was introduced to it by a friend because he knew I was a massive Michael J.Fox fan and I was laughing my head off within the first few minutes.I think it took a good 15 minutes of the film before Fox came on screen,which I was surprised about,but it didn't matter in the slightest because of the other actors/actresses in the cast,playing his relatives.The late great Phil Hartman (The Simpsons)is one of the many familiar faces who plays a member of the family who are desperate to get their hands on their great uncle Joe's money,played with relish by an old Kirk Douglas in one of his last roles.They are desperately trying to stop the old man from leaving his fortune to his beautiful nurse Mollie.But not only do the Macteague family want what they think is rightfully theirs,they also hate each other,so brown nosing is taken to an whole new level, as is backstabbing and it is a joy to watch.This was one of the film's Michael J.Fox made when he was having personal problems because of his cruel twist of fate with Parkinson's disease,but looking at his performance in the film you'd never have known it.The highlight of the film is definitely the dialogue (scripted by the writers of City Slickers)especially in the scenes where the relatives are trying to get one over on each other.And a special mention has to go to director Jonathan (Yes Minister)Lynn's unfussy direction.There's no jerky camera-work or quick editing to highlight the performances.He didn't need to.He just pointed the camera at them and let them do their thing.And the lack of intrusive music in many of the film's scenes was refreshing as well.If you're a fan of comical films that have an edge and have a range of amusing characters,this wickedly funny film is highly recommended.

A comedy filled with entertaining characters, Greedy fails to be a successful film due to a tedious plot.Dirty old selfish Joe is rich and his snivelling greedy relatives want his money, so far, so funny. However, the structure of Greedy is badly done. The film starts with one of Joe's greedy relatives, Carl and his family. It is a mistake to make us side and sympathise with them, if ultimately they are not important or developed. Worried they are going to lose out on their inheritance to sexy young nurse Molly, the bickering relatives call in long-lost nephew Danny, Uncle Joe's favourite. Although Michael J Fox is a welcome addition to any film, and his energy, wit and compassion make him a watchable lead, he is introduced too late to be this lead. Danny either isn't needed in this plot of greedy relatives versus evil old man, or it should start with and focus entirely on him. It is very difficult to care about his failed professional bowling career, as it is boring, and the sappy music that follows Danny and girlfriend Robin around is far too overdone.While child-Danny and Michael J Fox-Danny's impressions of Jimmy Durante are impressive, the need to show the audience who they are doing impressions of by starting the film with a lengthy clip of Jimmy Durante from Two Girls And A Sailor makes for a slow beginning that has little to do with the film.Molly is a badly written character. She knows Joe is perving on her, but she likes the lifestyle he provides and eventually she nearly sleeps with him for money, and yet she isn't supposed to be that sort of girl. Well, she clearly is. Also Olivia d'Abo is apparently English so it is confusing that her English accent is one of the fakest I have ever heard. Exactly what part of England is she from?The plot plays out pretty obviously, excluding Joe's insanely over the top ploy to discover who loves him, with bad people getting nothing and good people being rewarded, but it is the despicable Joe who has ruined his family's lives. Without him, they would never have become the people they are, so to see them end up with nothing, while he is still rich isn't satisfactory at all.Amusing characters suffer an irritatingly twisty plot, dominated by a detestable patriarch and are buried under too much moral for this film to be as funny as it wants to be. It should have stuck with the idea of relatives who will do anything for their inheritance and dumped the morals of Danny and manipulation of Joe, which just hinder the laughs.

I have a (fairly) vast collection of VHS tapes. I rarely get rid of anything, especially movies. Given that, there are a few among them that I don't care all that much for... some, I've even forgotten. There are even two or three that I've only watched once, and never really felt like watching again... each time it came up as I searched through my collection of films for something to watch, I would cringe at the thought of sitting through it even one more time. This is one such film. I'm not entirely sure what compelled me to give it another chance... I read a quote or two, half-remembered how they were said, and recognized some names on the cast... Phil Hartman, Ed Begley Jr. and Jere Burns(in order of how talented and funny I'd rate them), all three of which I've seen elsewhere and grown to appreciate the talents of(Douglas and Fox were the only two actors I knew the first time I watched this), and I think those were the main contributors, the last of the two reasons being the most important(in fact, Hartman is one of the people on a short mental list of people that I want to watch all of(well, at least as far as the watchable ones go) the work of). As the opening credits come on, I nearly regretted this decision... but that went away fairly quickly after the film itself began. The plot is pretty good. The actors all fit their roles and perform quite well. The cinematography does its job fine, as well as the editing, even if they are a little weird at times(speaking as a film aficionado(and someone who enjoys using words from foreign languages in everyday life) as well as someone who's enjoyed the pleasure and the privilege of trying his hands at both, it seems like there were many situations(be it in the production or post-production phase; shooting or editing) where they couldn't quite think of a good solution how to get all the elements or properly frame the shots, so they just went with the best they could think of(which leaves a bit to be desired, at times). It isn't that huge a deal, though). All those elements are fine, if not downright good. The real problem here is the humor... in spite of some wit and some black comedy that is among the darkest I have seen, there just seems to be too little of the film's humor that works. The timing is occasionally off, and a lot of potential(not to mention comical talent) is wasted. For a comedy, this just doesn't provide enough laughs to keep you watching for almost two hours. What made it truly worth it for me, and the main reason I urge anyone who decides to give this film a chance is the moral... the message of the film(it alone lifted my rating above the average of a 5). It gives such a clear perspective on greed, one that I don't believe I've ever seen presented before(and certainly not so skillfully). I recommend this to any fan of comedies who is willing to accept a lesser comedy to get to the great message of it(which is neither preachy nor heavy-handed, as some the moral of some message-movies is). Maybe the biggest fans of the actors should avoid, though... you may hate for the sole reason of how little the biggest talents in the film get to do. 6/10

Simply a great movie. Michael J. Fox trained with one of the greats, Johnny Petraglia for months in preparation for this movie. Fox went from a hack casual bowler to a respectable 175 average. Not good enough to actually throw the shots he was supposed to throw in the movie, though. The makers of Kingpin and Big Lebowski should have seen this one before making a mockery of the game. Any bowling lover should not miss this one.