brilliant actors, brilliant editing

All that we are seeing on the screen is happening with real people, real action sequences in the background, forcing the eye to watch as if we were there.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

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.

Shelley Long was so good in the first five years of sitcom 'Cheers' that i've always been surprised that she's never made more of a dent on the silver screen. Here I think is one of the few films she's made where she gets star billing.'The Money Pit' is a decent enough film and certainly has a lot of charm. Once it gets going,with all the slapstick and mishaps it's a good laugh.However I found the start very slow going and had to try hard not to give up on the film all together. There's so much set up before the fun starts and that doesn't make great viewing.If you want a fun film then this is one for you, I'd just skip the first twenty minutes.

One of the things that makes this movie so enjoyable is that millions of Americans can easily empathize and draw upon their own experiences with the travails of fixing up a dilapidated house. The plot is a familiar one and follows in the footsteps (which usually collapse) of such classic films as "George Washington Slept Here," "The Egg and I" and "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House."Shelley Long and Tom Hanks seem evenly matched as the tormented couple who suffer almost every wacky indignity and calamity imaginable. Tom Hanks has a flair for physical comedy, which he rarely got the chance to exploit in his later films. Unfortunately, except for Philip Bosco and Maureen Stapleton, the supporting players in "The Money Pit" are not in the same league as the actors who added so much flavor to films in the old studio days.Indeed, as a classic movie buff, I find today's crop of character actors pallid in comparison with their counterparts of more than 50 years ago.Who can forget Percy Kilbride and Hattie McDaniel as Mr. Kimber and Hester the maid in "George Washington," and Harry Shannon As Mr. Tesander, the well digger, in "Blandings"? Don't forget Donald MacBride and the coupling of Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride as Ma and Pa Kettle in "The Egg." We'll never see the likes of them again.Still, "The Money Pit" is all good fun and very entertaining.

I got a chance to watch this movie during a real estate class. And I am kinda glad the professor decided to show it. Cause although this movie was made in the 80's it still sorta holds up today. Tom Hanks is young in this and him and his fiancé decides to buy a house...Without doing any inspections on the house. And that is when there dream house ends up being a nightmare cause all the appliance and stuff in the house are so worn out it turns out to be a major hazard. So there is a bit of some comedic elements in this movie besides it have some romantic comedy aspect to it. But the romantic comedy is just a small portion of this movie. And it educates you what not to do when buying a house while it have some funny moments than and there. This isn't one of the best comedies I seen but it's pretty good. And is worth seeing, especially before buying a house as a couple.7/10