The Money Pit

The Money Pit
Tom Hanks, Shelley Long
Directed by Richard Benjamin
Universal 1986
91 minutes

The Money Pit is a fun little comedy starring now world famous and serious actor Tom Hanks and pretty decent famous for Cheers Shelley Long in the story of a young couple who buys a dream house that turns into a Pandora’s box of nightmares. The real star of this comedy DVD is the house itself whose ability for slapstick is matched only by that of Tom Hanks.

Tom Hanks and Shelley Long play the Fieldings, a young couple who must find a new home quickly after Anna Fielding’s orchestra conductor ex-husband comes back from a world wide tool and kicks them out of his home. They find a beautiful mansion owned my Maureen Stapleton, by it the very same day, and move in.

Half of the comedy in The Money Pit comes from the various defects in the house. Suffice to say everything in this money pit is defective; it’s how and when it decides to break down that makes the movie: this house has great comedic timing.  Tom Hanks is pretty good as Walter Fielding and getting upstaged by the house. Shelley Long is her usual okay self though there are a couple of scenes where she is definitely wooden and as rotten as the stairs in the house.

Director Richard Benjamin (Racing With The Moon, Mermaids) has one of his better turns at bat with The Money Pit. He really knows how to make the Mouse Trap game and Wile E Coyote cartoon style scenes work. The crew that rebuilds the money pit also has a few very good moments too.

The Money Pit is available individually or in The Tom Hanks Collection with The Burbs and Dragnet. Might as well get the collection for a couple bucks more if you shop right though neither The Burbs or Dragnet are classics.

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