Bachelor Party
Before he became a multiple Oscar winner and the Jimmy Stewart of his generation, Tom Hanks was arguably the most underrated comedy star of the 1980s, a decade rife and deep with legendary talent in that particular genre. And he managed to account himself very well with funny and energetic performances in several films of that era. Out of all of them though, this 1984 release is his grandest accomplishment in that field, made all the more amazing by the fact that most of his co-stars here were an array of Never Weres (including the possible King Of Never Quite Made Its in Adrian Zmed) who didn’t have little if anything in the way of their own careers in the years since (except for Michael Dudikoff, who carved out a nice little niche for himself in the martial arts genre as the star of the American Ninja films). Even more amazing is the fact that they all show almost seamless, fluid chemistry amongst each other and with Hanks, which is possibly because they either knew each other and were friends prior to filming, or maybe because Hanks himself was such a lifeforce among them as the lead actor that he actually managed to pull them together on set to work as a unit. Hanks plays a nonstop wisecracking, smart ass type who works as a school bus driver (and uses the same bus as his own private vehicle as well) who nonetheless has managed to win the heart of a beautiful, well bred, rich girl who thinks the world of him (Tawny Kitaen, forever remembered for this, Witchboard, and her very sexual presence in Whitesnake videos). Unfortunately, her wealthy, well to do family completely disapproves of Hanks, to the point where her father (George Grizzard) openly conspires with her ultra creepy (but rich) ex boyfriend (Robert Prescott, also remembered as the nerdy Kent in Real Genius) to split the two up so that the dad can have her marry the one that he wishes her to. Again, the amazement comes in the near perfect chemistry between Hanks and Kitaen, making one feel that this spoiled young heiress really does prefer this laid back goofball to the stiff types that run in her family’s circle. Naturally, upon hearing the news of the nuptials, Hanks’ buddies immediately make the plans for the party itself, with their group consisting of The Pretty Boy (Zmed), The Party Animal Mechanic, The Wormy Little Shit, The Total Airhead (Dudikoff), The Drugged Out Long Lost Friend, and most interestingly, Hanks’ older doctor brother played by William Tepper, really the only one who seems to match Hanks’ screen presence but is portrayed by a very enigmatic actor who was actually a protégé of Jack Nicholson’s in the early 1970s (itself unusual since Nicholson was not known to mentor anybody) but disappeared for nearly a decade after his career petered out before reappearing in this role and promptly disappearing again. On to the party itself, which starts off as a game of onesmanship between Hanks’ friends and Kitaen’s friends who are having a bridal shower (which consists of Gomer Pyle cast member Barbara Stuart as her mother, fat yet spunky and cute character actress Wendie Jo Sperber as the doctor brother’s wife, and Used Cars cast member Deborah Harmon as the man hating cousin) and which includes one of the funniest scenes in movie history when the girls hit a male strip club and Hanks gets wind of it. Things escalate when the hookers finally arrive at the luxury hotel suite, followed by the band, then several random guests, and then an actual donkey for a literal act of bestiality, along with the creepy ex actually attempting to murder Hanks as a matter of honor. What keeps things at an amazingly high quality is the overall good natured level of sleaze present at all times, in which such things as sex with hookers and use of hard drugs is portrayed in a casual, almost permissible way and certainly used as a basis for the humor, and that in itself was a regular staple and attitude of 80s comedies in general of the era before political correctness trampled everything to death. Also, the writing for the gags and the dialogue is consistently sharp throughout and since this wasn’t exactly a cast of top comedy actors who probably adlibbed their way through filming, a lot of credit should probably go to co writer Pat Proft, not exactly a lightweight in the field of comedy writing who had a hand in many of the funniest films of all time and was probably responsible for many of the film’s best and funniest moments. Hanks and the others do everything they can to throw themselves into the material though, and what results is a Quintessential 80s Comedy Masterpiece, still remembered today (and still holding up) as one of the funniest and quite literally most insane comedies ever made…
10/10