Funny Farm

Funny Farm
by George Roy Hill

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• Life in the country isn't what it's cracked up to be when city slicker Chevy Chase moves there.Year: 1988Running Time: 103 min. System Requirements: Starring: Chevy Chase, Madolyn Smith, Kevin O"Morrison, Joseph Maher, Jack Gilpin, Caris Corfman Director: George Roy Hill Rated: PG Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Age: 085391180920 UPC: 085391180920 Manufacturer No:&nb

DVD Reviews of Funny Farm

DVD Review: Great Chevy Chase moments
Summary: 4 Stars

It's the story of Andy Farmer, a sportswriter turned novelist, who moves to the New England countryside with his wife Elizabeth to write the great American novel. The little town they choose is called Redbud, a seemingly quaint Northeastern village. At first glance, everything is beyond perfect. The house and property are spectacular, enough to make any viewer of the film want to pack up their typewriters and move immediately. But slowly the dream crumbles. The movers get lost, the mailman is a psychopathic drunk, a corpse is discovered in the garden, they have no phone to call the police, Andy makes some enemies from the locals, the writing is laboriously slow, and his dog runs away. The Farmers discover they aren't quite suited for country life, despite their valiant efforts to embrace it. This fact reaches its apex when, in a very funny scene, Andy sets the record for the most "lambfries" consumed in one setting at the local diner. Only after breaking the record does he find out they are actually sautéed sheep testicles.

This is the start of a long night for Andy, who, in taking his wife out for a romantic night at Sid's Hideaway Bungalows, presents her with the first few chapters of his novel, insisting she read it right then and there. This whole sequence is classic for any writer, since we've all been there. Andy watches his wife read the first page and, when she doesn't crack even a smile, he feels the need to point out the funny parts that she should've laughed at. He reluctantly leaves her alone to finish it and goes out for wine. Her response upon completion? Tears. She goes on to describe in painful detail why the story (which they've pinned their hopes and dreams on) is an utter disaster. Her diatribe ends with a suggestion to burn it, which he does in a retaliatory fury.

To make things worse, Elizabeth has written a children's book behind Andy's back, which has been accepted for publication. The story? A squirrel from the city ends up in the country and completely out of his element, everything he tries to do turning to disaster. The squirrel's name? Andy. This only adds insult to injury and drives a wedge between them. Andy sinks into depression, and the last straw for Elizabeth is when Andy gives a copy of her manuscript to his publisher, passing it off as his own work (since he hasn't written a thing since the script-burning incident). She leaves him.

Up to this point the movie is pretty good. It has funny moments (if you like Chevy Chase, which I do), good characters, unique story ideas, etc. And then it just derails into that generi-comedy that suffocated many films in this era (like "Real Genius" and "Weird Science" for example, funny films that just exploded into some alternate universe in act 3). Instead of getting a divorce, which will take months to finalize, they decide to ask the citizens of Redbud to emulate Norman Rockwell paintings of "normal" small-town life so that when prospective buyers of their house come to town, they will be so impressed with Redbud they will just have to buy it. In return for this, Andy and Elizabeth will give the town $10,000 plus $50 to each person witnessed doing an act of "Rockwellian" normalcy.

What? How does this even remotely fit in to the rest of the story? First of all, it doesn't do anything for the problem of the divorce or the time frame involved to get it done. Second, they did nothing to establish that there would be any problems whatsoever in selling the house, even without the help of the Redbud townspeople. Lastly, it was completely unnecessary and unbelievable. They simply would've moved back to the city, gotten real attorneys and had their divorce finalized within weeks. End of story. The house would've been sold when it sold, the money divided up in the settlement, whatever. It just didn't make any sense, in reality or in the context of the film.

Even within this bizarre plot twist, however, there are still plenty of funny moments, and eventually we are led to the happy ending. Apparently the façade the Redbudians put on is so good it fools even Andy and Elizabeth back into buying the dream they had abandoned. They decide to stay married and keep the house. Andy gives up his dream of writing a novel and takes a job as a local sportswriter. The end.

Another significant point to mention is the unique structure to the film. Well, that was kind. I suppose other critics might say *lack* of structure to the film, but either way it's unconventional. There really isn't a major act turning point until over an hour into the movie (not counting his uprooting from the city - this would normally occur fifteen to twenty-five minutes into a film), then the Redbud deal finally brings us into the next act, and act 3 is just a couple of minutes of voice-over by Andy. The structure is there, just unusual, and I think it's what makes the movie stand out more than the average 90s comedy.

One more thing. Chevy relies heavily on his patented comedy and you really can't distinguish a difference between Andy Farmer and Clark Griswold. He even uses some of the same lines ("A hundred years ago the settlers didn't need electricity or phones..."). True, this is a problem, but for those of us that love Clark Griswold it's easily bearable.

Lastly, I'll mention the DVD is completely impoverished. There are literally no special features to be heard of. I think you're safe to buy this though; although a fun little movie that's comfortable like an old pair of jeans, I don't really expect to see a special edition of "Funny Farm" coming out anytime soon.
see a special edition of "Funny Farm" coming out anytime soon.

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