A sharp, fast-moving 80s crime comedy with a nasty streak, strong star turns, and a delightfully escalating kidnapping farce. It’s especially rewarding if you like mean-spirited setups played with clean comic mechanics and a glossy studio-comedy sheen.
Ruthless People
Where to watch: Buy
Movie · Comedy
Thu · 1h 34m
Director: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker
Starring: Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Judge Reinhold
Overview
Sam Stone hates his wife Barbara so much that he wants her dead. He's ecstatic when she's taken by a duo of kidnappers who want $500,000 ransom in exchange for her life. Fully intending to ignore every one of the kidnappers' demands in the hopes that they do him a favor and murder her for him, the two confused kidnappers have to figure out how they're going get their money, and what they're going to do with the overbearing Barbara.
Director
Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker
Cast
Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Judge Reinhold
Curator Review
Verdict
A sharp, fast-moving 80s crime comedy with a nasty streak, strong star turns, and a delightfully escalating kidnapping farce. It’s especially rewarding if you like mean-spirited setups played with clean comic mechanics and a glossy studio-comedy sheen.
Best for
fans of dark comedy and crime farce
viewers who enjoy 1980s ensemble comedies
people who like scheming, reversal-heavy plots
fans of Bette Midler and Danny DeVito
Skip if
you want warmth or sentimental humor
you dislike characters who are almost all awful
you prefer subtle comedy over broad, high-concept farce
you’re not in the mood for an aggressively 80s style
Overview
Ruthless People is one of those 80s comedies that feels engineered for maximum escalation: every character is selfish, every plan backfires, and the movie keeps finding new ways to turn bad behavior into punchlines. The premise is cruel, but the execution is nimble, with a steady stream of reversals that make the whole thing feel like a comic machine running at full speed.
Worth noting
Danny DeVito is perfectly cast as a man so petty he accidentally becomes the movie’s engine, while Bette Midler gives the film its real spark by turning captivity into a power shift. The kidnappers, the marriage, and the police all collide in a way that keeps the story moving without losing the joke density.
Bottom line
It’s also a very specific kind of studio comedy: glossy, neon-lit, and proudly artificial in its design. If that 80s polish works for you, this is a very easy watch. If you need your comedy softer or more grounded, its nastiness may be the point where it stops being fun.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Darren (4★) · 257 likes
"Did you just shoot at me?""No, you moron! There's police all over the place! Hundreds of them!""Do I look that stupid?""Yes, you do!" An even more gripping martial kidnapping thriller than Gone Girl.
Evasive (3★) · 168 likes
most aggressively 80's set design I've ever seen!! why did we as a society abandon pink neon lights and funky art deco furniture please bring it back I need it
Rafael "Mister Movie" Jovine (3★) · 131 likes
Being an avid fan of the team known as ZAZ, who brought us classic spoof films like "Airplane!", when I heard that this film had also been written by the mind that gave us Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and the brilliant My Cousin Vinny many years later, I was very intrigued. There's no doubt this is a Dale Launer movie, and even something that DeVito would do, but Zucker and Abrams' trademarks are scarcely apparent in certain scenes, such as the… more
sandyhonig (5★) · 126 likes
Look folks. I think this might be the greatest movie of all time. I saw it a million times as a kid and just rewatched. I can confidently say it’s one of the best ever made. Written by the guy who wrote My Cousin Vinny and directed by the Zucker brothers.... who could ask for anything more? Danny Devito? Bette Midler?????? Judge Reinhold?!!?!! Every shot a painting. The lighting is incredible. THEME SONG BY MICK JAGGER. This is the first time I’ve been earnest on Letterboxd. Sue me!!!!!!!!!
Carlo Vanstiphout · 104 likes
Judge Reinhold & Helen Slater make a really cute couple.