{"id":90849,"date":"2023-04-07T21:58:34","date_gmt":"2023-04-08T04:58:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=90849"},"modified":"2023-04-09T19:52:06","modified_gmt":"2023-04-10T02:52:06","slug":"easy-money-1983","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=90849","title":{"rendered":"Easy Money (1983)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;That&#8217;s how I am: once I get going, I can&#8217;t stop.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Poster-196x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"196\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-90850\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Poster-196x300.png 196w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Poster-84x128.png 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Poster-177x270.png 177w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Poster.png 405w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 196px) 100vw, 196px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nThe schlubby father (Rodney Dangerfield) of a virginal young woman (Jennifer Jason Leigh) who has just married her boyfriend (Taylor Negron) is challenged to clean up his act and his health when his mother-in-law (Geraldine Fitzgerald) passes away and leaves him money on condition of his reform.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Comedy<\/li>\n<li>Geraldine Fitzgerald Films<\/li>\n<li>Inheritance<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nIt&#8217;s difficult to know what to say about this utterly unfunny comedy &#8212; featuring Rodney Dangerfield, Joe Pesci, Geraldine Fitzgerald, and Jennifer Jason Leigh &#8212; which somehow raked in box office dough, and has been referred to on IMDb by at least one person as a &#8220;blue-collar white-trash classic.&#8221; Indeed, I spent the entire film scratching my head about how and why the four screenwriters (Dangerfield, Michael Endler, P.J. O&#8217;Rourke, and Dennis Blair) decided to pull together this particular set of circumstances and call it amusing. There are visual &#8220;gags&#8221; galore &#8212; like Dangerfield wearing his daughter&#8217;s wedding dress while it&#8217;s being altered (&#8220;See Dangerfield in drag!&#8221;): <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Dangerfield-Dress.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Dangerfield-Dress-1024x554.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"346\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-90857\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Dangerfield-Dress-1024x554.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Dangerfield-Dress-300x162.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Dangerfield-Dress-128x69.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Dangerfield-Dress-768x416.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Dangerfield-Dress-499x270.png 499w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Dangerfield-Dress.png 1177w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; or this odd scene in a department store, which I still can&#8217;t figure out the purpose behind. (Are store clerks who look just like mannequins&#8230; inherently funny? And if so, why?):  <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-1024x552.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"345\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-90859\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-1024x552.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-300x162.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-128x69.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-768x414.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-501x270.png 501w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money.png 1179w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; but visual &#8220;humor&#8221; alone does not a comedy make. The opening schtick actually gives away the tenor of the movie, as Dangerfield asks a young girl at a birthday party how old she is (he&#8217;s the hired photographer), and after she flashes her hand to indicate &#8220;five,&#8221; he flashes back both his hands twice, saying, &#8220;Well, call me when you&#8217;re <em>this<\/em>, okay?&#8221; and then tries to give her relationship advice.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Call-Me-When-Youre-This.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Call-Me-When-Youre-This-1024x555.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"347\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-90860\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Call-Me-When-Youre-This-1024x555.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Call-Me-When-Youre-This-300x163.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Call-Me-When-Youre-This-128x69.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Call-Me-When-Youre-This-768x416.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Call-Me-When-Youre-This-498x270.png 498w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Call-Me-When-Youre-This.png 1171w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Maybe that explains the baffling subplot between Leigh and Negron, in which she somehow doesn&#8217;t understand anything about sex and refuses to sleep with her new husband out of fear her dad will be mad (? ew?). <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Field-Negron.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Field-Negron-1024x559.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"349\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-90861\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Field-Negron-1024x559.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Field-Negron-300x164.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Field-Negron-128x70.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Field-Negron-768x419.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Field-Negron-495x270.png 495w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Field-Negron.png 1167w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Pesci hovers around the periphery like a random sidekick; in perhaps their worst scene together, they attempt to load an (obviously fake) giant wedding cake into the back of Pesci&#8217;s plumbing van, and&#8230; guess if it ends up okay? You get one guess only. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Dangerfield-Pesci-Driving.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Dangerfield-Pesci-Driving-1024x548.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"343\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-90863\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Dangerfield-Pesci-Driving-1024x548.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Dangerfield-Pesci-Driving-300x161.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Dangerfield-Pesci-Driving-128x69.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Dangerfield-Pesci-Driving-768x411.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Dangerfield-Pesci-Driving-504x270.png 504w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Dangerfield-Pesci-Driving.png 1175w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I vaguely understand that entire flick this meant to evoke the bizarre humor of W.C. Fields films, given attempts to &#8220;reform&#8221; Dangerfield out of his bad habits &#8212; but it simply doesn&#8217;t translate. (Then again, many of Fields&#8217; films no longer seem overly amusing either.) Poor Fitzgerald doesn&#8217;t come across well: <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Fitzgerald.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Fitzgerald-1024x543.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"339\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-90858\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Fitzgerald-1024x543.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Fitzgerald-300x159.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Fitzgerald-128x68.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Fitzgerald-768x407.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Fitzgerald-509x270.png 509w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Easy-Money-Fitzgerald.png 1175w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; and I have no idea why Dangerfield&#8217;s wife (Candice Azzara) is written as someone who adores him no matter what. Go figure. I&#8217;ve now said much more about this movie than I intended to, so I&#8217;ll call a halt to my review. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:<\/strong><br \/>\nNot much of anything. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNope. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0085470\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1983\/08\/19\/movies\/screen-easy-money.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s how I am: once I get going, I can&#8217;t stop.&#8221; Synopsis: The schlubby father (Rodney Dangerfield) of a virginal young woman (Jennifer Jason Leigh) who has just married her boyfriend (Taylor Negron) is challenged to clean up his act and his health when his mother-in-law (Geraldine Fitzgerald) passes away and leaves him money on condition of his reform. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Comedy Geraldine Fitzgerald Films Inheritance Review: It&#8217;s difficult to know what to say about this utterly&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=90849\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=90849"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90849\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90911,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90849\/revisions\/90911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=90849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=90849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=90849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}