Les héritiers affamés

Greedy has taken some of the plot situations in the Paramount classic If I Had A Million and carried them to incredible heights. It has a whole string of good performances topped off by one of the last performances by Kirk Douglas before he had his stroke.

Kirk plays the Richard Bennett part here, the millionaire who doesn't like almost all of his relatives, but gets a certain sadistic joy in seeing them perform like trained seals, trying to stay in his good graces. The only honest one of them is one of Ed Begley Jr.'s young sons who is just like that kid in If I Had a Million who started playing that record of I'll Be Glad When You're Dead You Rascal You.

Unlike Bennett, Douglas does not decide to drop parts of his fortune on eight random strangers. He just keeps putting his family through their paces until they decide to dig up Michael J. Fox, a nephew he actually liked when he was a kid.

Fox is a second string professional bowler who's got a TV producer he's involved with, Nancy Travis. The two of them invade Douglas's three ring circus of relatives and get put through their paces also. All the family is against Douglas's 'nurse' Olivia D'Abo who the family is afraid will get the whole inheritance.

Greedy is a nicely paced amusing comedy which I think most of us can identify with. I know I've had a relative or two I can't stand either, but am forced to be nice to for a variety of reasons. The relatives are all greedy, but Douglas is one sadistic creep as well. I'd catch it the next time it's on the tube.

I thought this was a pretty decent comedy. I like seeing Michael J. Fox in movies, in television shows, and in real life. There's a very likable quality about him, I think. Anyway, "Greedy" has an interesting plot. Sure, it's not the most intelligent film of all time, but it's funny and entertaining, which is undoubtedly what the filmmakers behind this movie tried to achieve. I especially liked the ending of the film, which I found the funniest part. I'd say it's worth a watch. I sure liked it anyway.

You must see this movie if you like Phil Hartman and offbeat comedies! And if you simply don't care about popular opinion and what critics say, then you should definitely see this movie!

This film tackles a subject matter that I've never seen in a movie: inheriting money and being included in a will. Kirk Douglas plays a wealthy and eccentric business man bound to a wheelchair who says what he wants and gets whatever he asks for. Retired from his coal mining business, his days now consist of toying with his asskissing moneyhungry family who secretly are waiting for him to die, and being with his sexy live in housemaid (played by The Wonder Years' Olivia D'abo, whom I did not know was British, not to mention the daughter of Doo Wa Diddy's Manfred Mann). Led by the hilarious and unfortunately late Phil Hartman in top form, the family take turns accomodating Douglas and verbally assaulting him in private. The movie takes a turn when they decide to call Douglas' favorite nephew, played by Michael J. Fox, who has moved away to get away from his gold digging cousins, in order to cheer up Douglas. Fox, and his wife, played by the charming Nancy Travis, are the only ones who aren't after their uncle's money. Or are they?

With many twists and an ending to die for, this movie is my pick for the most underrated comedy of the 90's. See it!

I suppose saying that the end of this movie is great gives something away. Then again you don't know what that is so maybe not.

The plot of this film has Kirk Douglas dying as all of his relatives try to curry favor and get left his fortune. When every trick in the book fails they call in Michael J Fox as his long lost favorite nephew. Fox is now a down on his luck pro-bowler desperate for the cash the family promises him.

Some of what follows is sit-com material, some is highly inspired. The good part of it is that almost all of it is funny.

Certainly the film as a whole is not the best thing down the pike, but it has its moments, all of which make this film worth seeing.

This is an important film for the whole family to see. Not because it's a work of art, because it isn't. However, the warning that this film is trying to give is that greed can be all consuming (In this case, trying to get Kirk Douglas's money). It shows how even the best of people can slowly be perverted into doing things that they normally would not. Not all at once but in stages, creeping up on them before they fully realise it. This is obviously most noticeable in Michael J Fox's character, being the central one but it's important to look at the others. Phil Hartman's is the most purely after the money from the start but the others range in increasing degrees with the amount of doubt about their motives and show some conscience before it is overriden by their stronger desire for money, even to the point of not following decent human behaviour that they normally wouldn't otherwise. Worth watching because there are many lessons to be learned and a couple of nice twists. Keeps you wrong-footed (quite literally) until the very end.