Big Business

I love Big Business. The plot device of babies or twins being mixed up at birth isn't new, but it's rarely been done as well as it has here. Credit for that must largely go to the two leads - Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin. Both are outstanding and transition between their dual roles with ease. The support cast is excellent too. Not all of the scenarios that make up the plot are brilliantly funny in themselves, but they are performed so well you'll think they are. I especially love the scene where Bette Midler dances and yodels on a New York street. Something about that always makes me smile. Big Business is over 30 years old as I write this, but it's head and shoulders above lots of the so-called comedy that is foisted on us today. In this age of female empowerment there is a big push to give us movies of all types with strong female leads. Some older movies that originally had a male cast have even been rewritten as vehicles for female stars rather than men (Ghostbusters anyone??) Bette and Lily did it before this trend became a thing and they did it better. If you've never seen this movie, watch it. If you haven't seen it in a while, do yourself a favour and watch it again. It hasn't dated.

I just love this movie - I've seen it several times and it makes me laugh each time. The two lead actresses are wonderful, and perform their roles perfectly. Bette Midler is especially wonderful as the rich bitch.

I rushed right out and located the DVD of "Big Business," even though I knew that Disney had a bad reputation for minimal value in extras on their DVD releases. That situation has improved over time, and seeing BB in wide screen made it all worthwhile. This movie started out funny for me and has gotten better with repeated viewings. It has an excellent pedigree with Jim Abrahams directing and Dean Cundey manning the camera, and the leads are definitely up to the challenge of dualie roles.

It is unusual for a comedy to have the strong viewpoint and values expressed in this movie. Fred Ward's Rune talks about the simple pleasures of living in the rural country and you know that somebody involved with the script knew those pleasures personally. The characters rarely become stereotypes. Even the secondary characters are treated with respect.

Dean Cundey, Director of Photography, must have been specializing in trick photography as he went on to shoot "Back to the Future 2" and "3" with even better results. The effects budget for BB was high enough to keep the believability intact.

To me this is an all-around enjoyable light comedy.

This movie is a real must-see, especially if you are a fan of either Bette Midler or Lily Tomlin. Throughout the story you're either smiling, laughing or having a good old giggle, it's an original storyline (how often do we see that!), with subtle themes of strong, wholesome values - not so much so that its offensive or boring though. If you want to smile and spend a fun evening in, then this is the movie for you - watch out for the mirror scene with Bette Midler, silly but very funny. Two great actresses with style, a sense of fun and a lot of talent, pull this movie off to make it one of my all time, favourite DVD's. Enjoy!

Big Business is an updated version of Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors. It is directed by Jim Abrahams with astonishing split screen photography by Dean Cundey.

Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin play dual roles. A set of twins switched at birth. Rose and Sadie Shelton were raised by a wealthy couple from New York. Rose and Sadie Ratliff were raised by farmers in Jupiter Hollow where all of them were one born but two of the babies were wrongly mixed up.

The Shelton girls run their father's business Moramax in New York City and plan to shut down the main factory in Jupiter Hollow. Rose (Midler) is tough as nails while Sadie (Tomlin) is meeker and has more scruples.

The Ratliff's visit New York in order to save the factory from closure. Sadie Ratliff (Tomlin) is the more astute and sensible one. Both sets of twins are staying at the same hotel and narrowly avoid meeting each other and not releasing that they are doppelgangers, but they cause mayhem with hotel staff, Moromax employees and even their boyfriends.

Big Business is an easy going fun film, it captures the late 80s 'greed is good' mantra. We see one of the characters modelling herself on Alexis Carrington from Dynasty. It is just a shame that it is not laugh out loud funny.