A Fine Mess (1986)

That famous comedy team of Howie Mandel and Ted Danson stink up the joint in this bizarre attempt by Blake Edwards at re-creating the slapstick world of Laurel and Hardy. Initially envisioned as a partial remake of Laurel and Hardy's The Music Box, this degenerates into a witless plot involving racehorse fixing and a gangster's unfaithful wife. The cast, which includes Maria Conchita Alonso, Richard Mulligan, and Stuart Margolin, looks embarrassed at the helter-skelter attempts at slapstick, which barely rises to the level of schtick. Danson and Mandel both had hit TV shows at the time (Cheers and St. Elsewhere, respectively), but this movie misfire did nothing to ignite their cinematic careers. --Marshall Fine Amazon.com

A FINE MESS

I LIKE FUNNY/CRAZY MOVIES AND THIS FITS BOTH OF THEM.
IF YOU ENJOY A FAST MOVING FUNNY MOVIE YOU WILL LIKE THIS MOVIE.
I LOVED IT! January 20, 2008

Master OF The Rare LASERDISCs Movies.

I have FINE MESS ON LASERDISC And I am gonna buy The DVD too .....A MUST SEE :) July 10, 2005

non stop laughs

This is a very funny movie, personally i am not a big fan of Ted Danson, but he is so likable that you can't help but cheer for him, although this film has never gotten a lot of attention as a major comedy, i for one like it, every time i watch it i can't help but to laugh, Columbia/Tri-Star should acknowledge this as a very funny movie, it may have a shallow story, but comedian Howie Mandel keeps you laughing also. Danson & Mandel work so well together that you want to be part of the action, even serious actor Paul Sorvino is very funny as a bumbling would-be godfather, it seems he wanted to mock that image, even NYPD Blue's Dennis Franz shows his funny side as Danson's mouthy brother-in-law, but Sorvino's bumbling hit men (Margolin&Mulligan) have such bad luck that you can't help but feel sorry for these guys, one scene involves them crashing into a police car, then Franz, then stumbling onto Sorvino's semi-naked wife who just happens to be with Danson, but it is Howie Mandel's comedic performance that shines here, as he tries desperately to flee Danson's mess, but gets caught in the middle at every turn, but the most funny part is the last 20-25 minutes when see Danson & Mandel in Sorvino's house hiding from him at every turn, all the while Danson is trying to romance Sorvino's wife. you could say that this is "Cheers in L.A." with Danson playing almost the same character. If only Columbia/Tri-Star would rerelease this on video as well as put it on DVD, that would be a dream come true. August 13, 2001

Of slapstick and bare essentials

Some ten or twelve years ago I saw A FINE MESS at the movies and laughed a lot. Give it a try. Director Blake Edwards reaches for the slapstick ring he grabbed with his PINK PANTHER movies in A FINE MESS and many of the jokes succeed. Actor Ted Danson's character reminded me of the bumbling ladies man he played on the TV show "Cheers" and he's just as funny here. It would seem that the wardrobe budget was cut for actress Julianne Phillips' role. September 18, 1999

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