Other Titles • Ruthless People • Die Unglaubliche Entführung der Verrückten Mrs. Stone (1986)
Synopses for Ruthless People (1986)
1.
A milestone comedy of the 1980s, Ruthless People delighted critics and audiences alike and set the tone of Hollywood comedies for years to come. Along with that other popular farce about wealthy Californians, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, this ingenious romp revived Bette Midler's career and launched Disney (by way of its subsidiary, Touchstone Pictures) into the lucrative production of R-rated comedies; it also ensured the star power of then-TV star Danny DeVito. Dale Launer became Hollywood's hot screenwriter du jour by cleverly reworking O. Henry's Ransom of Red Chief into a wicked tale of marital malice heightened by a bungled kidnapping. Midler is sublime as the victim of low-rent abductors ("I've been kidnapped by Kmart!"), and DeVito's the gleeful philanderer who refuses to pay ransom for his wife's unwanted return. With Anita Morris, Judge Reinhold, Helen Slater, and Bill Pullman among the plot-twisting schemers, the movie's so much fun that an eventual remake seems almost inevitable. --Jeff Shannon
(15 votes)
2.
In this comedy from the directing team responsible for AIRPLANE!, two kidnappers discover, to their shock, that the husband (DeVito) of the wealthy woman (Midler) they've snatched won't pay the ransom and is, in fact, celebrating the possibility that she may be murdered.It isn't long long the abductors understand why: their captive, who harangues them with a never-ending stream of abuse, is more trouble than she's worth. But as they get to know her, and learn more about her husband, it dawns on the kidnappers that he's no treasure either -- and that getting abducted may be the best thing that's happened to their victim in a long time.
(15 votes)
3.
Slime ball businessman Sam Stone plots to murder his horrible wife for her money, so he can marry his mistress. He can't believe his luck when she is kidnapped by Ken and Sandy Kessler who wanted revenge from Sam for stealing their savings, and Sandy's money making fashion design, then marketing it as his own. When Barbara learns of what Sam has done to this couple and then realises that he isn't doing anything to secure her release, she becomes friends with her kidnapper and they plan to teach Sam a lesson.
(15 votes)
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