Relax

After reading the reviews I couldn't believe that there are people that found this movie boring. To me it has some of the best dialog in any movie.

Favorite scene? hard to pick, but probably when Albert Brooks comes down to the casino in his bathrobe looking for Julie Haggerty and finds her chanting..."22,22,22,22." When asked how down she is she says "Down." When asking the casino operator how down she is he says "Down."

Another player says "She really likes 22"

I have seen this movie over and over again and it just keeps getting funnier each time I see it. I am a big Albert Brooks fan, Defending your life is very good and Real Life is also a favorite.

If you like dry humor and great dialog see this one for sure!

Lost In America is one of those movies that I always meant to see, but never remembered to rent. A few weeks ago, I finally got a chance to see it, and I loved it.

Albert Brooks and Julie Hagerty are perfect as the classic yuppie couple that decide to set out on the open road after a series of strange circumstances. Brooks' rave-out on his boss at the beginning of the film is priceless, as is his interaction with the unemployment office worker in the midwest... "I'll just check my $100,000 a year job file." Brooks is also great when he tries to reason with the casino owner, and arguing with Hagerty over her inability to use the words "nest" and "egg". "From now on, birds live in ROUND STICKS!!!, for breakfast, you will have THINGS over easy!!!!"

Most of the best dialogue and scenes are delivered from Brooks, but Hagerty is quite good as well, as the timid wife whos honest, yet HUGE blunder sets the tone for the rest of the film.

My only complaint is that it seemed about a half hour too short. When they decide to return to New York, I would've allowed one more wacky situation on the way back home, but it was not to be. It left me feeling that the ending was a bit rushed. But this is a minor complaint from a great film that deserves to be seen over and over.

"Lost In America" is a subtle, slowburning comedy portraying all the troubles that will rain down on you, once you decide to drop out (as an older adult) in a motorhome and start roaming the United States of America. (Avoid Nevada, by the way...)

The good: the midlife crisis jokes are subtle, yet true to life and spot on. Many married adults, grinding away at their boring jobs will surely find recognition in this story about wanting to break free from all the shackles that the daily boring work routine presses down upon us.

Any bad? The humour of director, writer and actor Albert Brooks is probably only suited for a smaller audience, who can appreciate some typical slowburning and subtle midlife crisis humour. Younger people who long for a fast and straight funny movie might find it boring.

Mild chucklefest about a bored ad exec approaching 40 who talks his wife into abandoning their jobs for life on the road. Your typical Albert Brooks offering, which of course, is not for all tastes. Some can take to his light style of humor like addicts to coke, while others will scream how mediocre this film is to be held up as an example at screen-writing classes.

Most of Brooks' humor in his films come from his characters being utterly flummoxed by life or his grinny observations about everyday people. You get that usual array here, but unlike some of his other efforts, this Brooks screenplay seemed oddly malnourished. He gets caught up in this whole "Easy Rider" nonsense and places the film's more humorous and intriguing moments at the front. The business with Hagerty and the casino happens so quickly, that it a) uses the best device too fast, and b) seems too out of character for her. Brooks needed more time spent on the road meeting goofy locals and emptying his RV's chemical toilet that would eventually prompt Hagerty to do what she does early. And therein lies the film's bigger problem: they only really have one predicament. Once they hit their financial nadir, they look for jobs, work them for one day, and the film ends with a cop-out minutes later.

Sorry to forward-project, but I was a GREAT admirer of Brooks' "Defending Your Life". It had his usual breezy, near lulling atmosphere on display, but with the life-after-death exploration as a great backdrop, that filmed worked better. "Lost in America" just sort of coasts along with random vignettes before breaking down at the side of the road.

LOST IN AMERICA (1985) ***1/2 Albert Brooks, Julie Hagerty, Garry Marshall. Hysterically funny film by Brooks about his character, David Howard, a yuppie who loses his job after his dream of a promotion falls through as an ad exec and decides to take his scatter-brained wife (Hagerty) cross country a la "Easy Rider" but in a Winnebago but gets seriously side-tracked in Las Vegas. Brooks has never been finer and gives the ultimate scene in cinema's history of being fired and quitting at the same time!