Coupe de Ville

A trio of feuding brothers who haven't seen each other for five years reluctantly embark on a road trip orchestrated by their dad. Their mission is to simply fetch a vintage Coupe de Ville from Detroit and deliver it to the family home in Florida - then dad plans to present it to his wife as a birthday present. Tensions run high as the three brothers, one military - one dreamer - and one rebellious teen, must survive each other and ensure the car comes to no harm or face the consequences.

Coupe de Ville is directed by Joe Roth and stars Arye Gross, Daniel Stern & Patrick Dempsey as the brothers, Alan Arkin & Rita Taggart as the parents & Annabeth Gish drops in as the love interest angle. Though holding few surprises with the basic conceptual formula, it's a film that can brighten up the darkest of days and really deserves to be better known. Anyone who has been involved with sibling rivalry can identify with the brothers from the outset, whilst the ultimate revelations of the narrative hit all the emotional beats.

We open with a sequence of the boys as youngsters, naturally they are fighting in the bedroom. Fast forward twelve years and they undertake this journey that has cunningly been set up by the father (a delightful turn from Arkin), cue arguments and a number of humorous set ups executed skilfully by Messrs Stern, Gross and Dempsey. Along the way they of course run into problems and obviously encounter the usual array of interesting characters that tend to fill out the "road movie" genre. Fun as it is though, pic is not all about the comedy, it has something to say, and it's possibly through the more serious and poignant moments that Coupe de Ville soars a little higher than your basic coming of age picture.

The cast are strong right through and Roth has a very easy on the eye directing style, while the soundtrack is top dollar for those into 50s and 60s rockers. There's no new ground being found here, something that has in the past been used by notable critics to beat it over the head with. Yet it's an easy film to fall in love with, it has a lot of resonance to those in tune with the themes pulsing away, and ultimately it's as funny as much as it is a worthy message picture. Go on, give it a go if you get the chance, it just might strike the same chord with you as it did with myself. 8/10

This film is an absolute classic and it is a crime that it is not available on DVD.

There must be something us film lovers can do to rectify this injustice.

This film is hysterical, moving and poignant all rolled into one which is a rarity in itself.

For me, Patrick Dempsey and Daniel Stern steal the show as the feuding brothers who constantly clash with great hilarity.

Sterns performance had me in tears of laughter, especially in his moments of rage.

A great cast, a great script and an extremely well hidden master piece which does not get the credit it deserves.

I can not really say any more than that!!

I don't know who owns the rights to this film, but I am not alone on my rating of this film. I have checked the main page of this movie on this web site every 2 days or so. I like to think my DVD collection is full of all of the classics ever made, including very famous movies and the greatest movies that people have never seen. This is the only movie that I am dying to have in my collection. How is it that with Patrick Dempsey's recent fame and Alan Arkin's new Oscar (it was about time) this movie is still not available? The movie is absolutely hilarious, it's full of great scenes and classic lines. It's funny, it's emotional, it's dramatic, it's realistic and it's all in one movie. So rare these days. But, how do we get it?

The premise of "Coupe de Ville" is hardly original - eccentric father gets his three sons, who all hate each other, to drive a car across America for him. Standard road-movie fare, then, and you know they'll all love each other before the end of the trip. Also, the characters are one dimensional (and, in the beginning, impossible to like), while the inevitable disasters that assail them are predictable and yet desperately dull and umimaginitively conceived. The continuous soundtrack sweetens thing up. And yet the film retains a certain charm. It's nicely shaped, not too pretentious, and oddly appeals in a cartoony sort of way - its almost like an adults' film made with the limited sophistication of a children's one. It may not be great film-making, but it's a lot more watchable than you might expect.

This is one of the best all time sleeper hits. I have yet to recommend this someone who hasn't liked it. A wonderful, brother film. A nice story about 3 brothers who learn about each other, and what they mean to their family.