Big Harry

I would just like to comment that this movie scared the everloving bejeezus out of me when i was a child. Seriously, to the point where if i saw even the box sitting on a shelf in the video rental store i would start panicing as if the walls were closing in on me. All i ever remember of this movie is the very first scene where the fat guy eats a roadside hot dog vendor. I distincivly remember the victum's eye-view being the last shot of that scene. So a word of advice, don't let your children watch this. I grew up to be a pretty skinny guy and i won't set aside the fact that this movie may take some of the blame...

My review was written in December 1986 after watching the film at a Times Square screening room.

"Eat and Run" is a one-joke horror spoof that plays like a "Saturday Night Live" tv sketch stretched out to 90 minutes duration. Filmed as "Mangia" two summers ago in Manhattan, New World pickup opened in Chicago in October and is headed mainly for midnight bookings.

Ron Silver toplines as a police detective given to narrating out loud his misadventures in 1940s tough guy fashion, a habit picked up from his dad (Derek Murcott). He's on a missing persons case, the result of a tubby alien (R. L. Ryan) landing in New Jersey and eating up Italian Americans because the first person he meets (and eats) is Italian, making him addicted to "Italian food".

Silver links up romantically with a judge (Sharon Schlarth) who despite being named Cohen turns out to be Italian. She improbably falls in love with the alien, but Silver saves the day, only to end up in hot water himself in a ridiculous, unsatisfying ending.

Chatty film is directed by newcomer Christopher Hart (who scripted with his dad Stan Hart) in the manner of a radio play; static visuals present a pleasant but unatmospheric background to verbal humor. High points are two well-delivered (by Silver and cohorts) variations on Danny Kaye's patented, fast-paced alliteration routines, though without Kaye's rhythm of singing attributes. Otherwise, pic is deadly dull, hammering its gag firmly into the ground via repetition.

With no special effects, gore or sexploitation, film seems like a G-rated approach with dirty words inserted to get an R rating.

Man, this is by no means as bad as eighties crappy comedies like 91/2 ninjas, but it's not so hilarious as it thinks it is either.

An alien (played by a giant actor who is sadly no longer with us) lands on Earth and immediately starts chowing down on the Italian populace of New York, because, you know, Italian food tastes the best (except curry).

It's all down to cop Ron Silver to bring down the alien, with one complication, the judge he's banging (badly) turns out to be Italian, but she's also going easy on criminals and lets the alien go and also falls in love with him, but what happens when the alien finds out she's Italian.

Full of many, many failed gags, Eat and Run almost works due to Silver's constant narrating of the plot to himself and others (which works very well when he meets his dad, who does the same thing). A lot of bad jokes too, however, as it's going for a kind of Airplane type atmos but doesn't quite make it. Ron Silver ain't with us anymore either. That's depresses me. Can actors from the eighties stop dying please? It's not a film I would have tracked down hadn't I purchased it and 25 other dvds for £3 at Polmadie Car Boot Sale...

I liked this movie a lot. It was on TV several times when I was younger. Ron Silver narrates out loud to himself during the movie and other characters occasional complain and ask him to stop. He also refers to his girlfriend, the judge, as "your honor darling". I've been trying to find this movie again for several years, I'll probably have to try to get a bootleg from ebay. It's cheesy etc., but has some very funny moments and ideas. I think calling it an airplane rip-off is inaccurate.

Having captured a humanoid alien who had been feasting on Italian immigrants, a jaded American police detective is surprised to find that the law actually is not on his side in this quirky comedy with more to it than meets the eye. Yes, the premise is incredibly silly, however, while the film initially just seems to be a series of devouring scenes, things become very interesting once the alien is captured as he is treated with all the legal rights afforded to human beings. As the cop in question, Ron Silver gives some hilarious deadpan reactions as he is told by a psychiatrist that the alien is "cured (and) no longer a threat" since he now understands that what he did was wrong! Also, apparently carbon dating has proved that the alien is child in the eyes of the law, so he needs to be treated like a minor! The film does not explore all of this as deeply as it could (is he is old enough to make his own decisions about what he does in bed?) but either way, such thoughtfulness is both surprising and refreshing in such an ostensibly frivolous film like this and it more than makes up for the fact that several gags backfire (the short order cook who keeps deep frying his possessions is absolutely groan-inducing). That said, most of the humour does in fact work. Silver's penchant for narrating his life in third person is an especially good touch with lots of funny moments as other characters ask him what on earth he is doing. The constant cutting between his boss eating and obsessing with food (cake layers) and the alien devouring Italians adds some unexpected humour too.