Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

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

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

It's not often that a remake manages to be even better than a classic original, but this reworking of Mr. Blandings for a more modern context definitely hits the nail on the head. Tom Hanks is hilarious in that underplayed TH manner and his relationship with Shelley Long, as they chase their dreams, is delightful. As an added bonus, it also provides a useful list of things to beware of when buying a house. This is one of my favourite films and I strongly recommend it.

About the only thing this movie might be good for is as a training film for Hollywood stuntmen. It has more falls, spills, and hits than any film I can think of. That includes the Three Stooges films. Tom Hanks (or his double or doubles) has about as many falls as he has lines in this mishmash. On the score of falls to humorous lines, there's no contest. The script for this film is witless and humorless. Who knows what the makers were trying to do with "The Money Pit." I saw it as an attempt to make a new version of an older couple of films that were huge successes. Both were about city slickers who wanted to move into the country and they wind up getting stuck with huge fixer- uppers. The first of those was "George Washington Slept Here" of 1942 that starred Jack Benny and Ann Sheridan. The second was "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House" of 1948 that starred Cary Grant and Myrna Loy. Both of those films had crisp, sharp, witty and wonderfully funny dialog. It mixed very well with their occasional physical blunders or mishaps. But "The Money Pit" has none of that. Without a clever, funny script the repetitious falls, breaks and problems just get old very fast. Without the dialog, even the first few lack humor. This is a real turkey of a film. The only reason I give it three stars is for the brief but very good role of Estelle, played by Maureen Stapleton. Otherwise, it's a real bore.Here are the four brief pieces of dialog in the entire screenplay that I found funny. Max, "Can I speak frankly?" Anna, "Anything's possible."Estelle, as she lights a candelabra, "I'm trying to save a few bucks on the lights… for the blood-sucking lawyers."Estelle, "You know, you think you know somebody… after 25 years, and then one day, Israeli Intelligence comes to the door." Anna, "Israeli Intelligence?" Estelle, "It turns out Carlos was Hitler's pool man."Curly, "I'm from Shirk Brothers. Your name came up in the drawing. We work today." Walter, "That's good. Where is Brad?" Curly, "Oh, south of France I think." Walter, "Well, shouldn't he be here?" Curly, "Oh, Brad is the executive plumber. We do all the work."

When a couple stupidly buy the ultimate fixer upper, they are caught in a house of horror. This could have been a truly funny movie, but all it is is one pitfall after another. We squirm as the poor people, who don't deserve this hell, fall through floors, watch stairways tumble, get hit by debris, and on and on. I watched this on a plane to Thailand, hoping it would keep me awake for a time so I could sleep later. I soon was snoring. But because in those day they kept showing the same movie over and over, I finally got to mercifully see the whole thing. There is nothing wrong with Tom Hanks and Shelley Long. They just signed up for a clunker. The special effects are pretty good. I'm sure there were some find creative sessions to decide what to do to these poor people.

Top comedy stars Tom Hanks and Shelley Long play Walter and Anna, a music industry lawyer and classical musician respectively, who are due to be kicked out of the apartment they've been using. It belongs to her ex-husband Max (Alexander Godunov), an egocentric orchestra conductor. Now they are in desperate need of lodging, and think they've found their solution when Walters' friend Jack (Josh Mostel) tells them about a mansion that the owner (Maureen Stapleton) is willing to unload cheaply. They soon find out the obvious answer: it's because this house is in TERRIBLE shape, and Walter & Anna have a number of slapstick misadventures trying to repair and remodel the house."The Money Pit" benefits from very engaging lead characters & performances; Hanks and a radiant Long have good chemistry and therefore make a believable couple. It also has great supporting characters & performances, too, from a sleazy carpenter (Joe Mantegna, who walks away with his one big scene), a bratty young pop star (Billy Lombardo), Max (the late Godunov is extremely amusing), and a can-do contractor named Curly (Philip Bosco). Hanks figures in the most gut busting moments, and he does one of the most priceless insane laughs that this viewer has ever heard.The movie itself, written by co-executive producer David Giler, and directed by actor Richard Benjamin, does manage to be very funny for a while (with a memorable image of Hanks slowly sinking into the floor), until it all gets a little over the top. Predictably, there is a major bump in the road for the Walter / Anna relationship, giving the story a little bit of humanity.You've already gotten a taste of the character actor talent in this review, but I'll refrain from listing all of the familiar faces in supporting parts and bits so you can discover them for yourself.Impressive stunts and sight gags help to make this a decent diversion.Seven out of 10.