Primeira Família

This is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen.I saw it when it came out in the theater in 1980, and I still think it is one of the best movies I ever saw.Gilda Radner was in one of her funniest movies ever when she was in this.

President Manfred Link (Bob Newhart) has his fands full dealing with a contentious election year after narrowly avoiding loss in the previous election where he beat out a dead man and his dead running mate by the slimmest of margins. Add to that, Link must also deal with the idiosyncrasies of the island African nation of Upper Gorm who possess resources vital the U. S.. Meanwhile Manfred's family consisting of his alcoholic wife Constance (Madelahn Kahn) and sex starved 28 year old daughter Gloria (Gilda Radner) continually try Manfred's patience as Manfred's various aides and cabinet members try impotently to keep things controlled.

First Family came to us in 1980 from writer/director Buck Henry whom had previously co-directed Heaven Can Wait with Warren Beatty in 1978 which became the fifth highest grossing film of that year, had written the screenplays for well regarded films like The Graduate and What's Up, Dog?, as well as co-created classic spy spoof sitcom Get Smart with Mel Brooks. The movie was apparently troubled as test screenings to the film were so negative that Warner Bros. Regathered the crew to reshoot the ending. The movie's grosses fell well short of Heaven Can Wait, and critics of the time were equally disappointed with most of the reviews skewing negative and Siskel and Ebert declaring the film one of their "Dogs of the Week" on their TV program. The movie is rather lacking in comparison to previous efforts by its cast and writer/director and this is frankly a low point for many of them.

When you have a cast that includes the likes of Bob Newhart, Madeline Kahn, Gilda Radner, Harvey Korman, and Fred Willard, the bar is already high considering how funny these people have been in other productions. Add to that the great Buck Henry who's given us some inspired works that are still funny and entertaining to this day and the fact that First Family is as bad as it is, it's frankly inexcusable. The pacing is ridiculously slow and turgid and while that's not a deal breaker for comedy, you need to have rich well defined characters so your audience can get involved despite the slow pace. No one is given much to work with as the movie often goes for lamebrained "culture clash" humor with the fictional African nation of Upper Gorm featuring gags like their national beverage made of Donkey Blood and Cow Urine, or offering up virgins to have sex with a statue of a fertility god called Jucamba that has a giant phallic piece (I think that's what happens, it's not clear), and the movie never takes off and most of the gags just go limp because there's no punch to any of the gags with most of the set pieces resulting in ill-timed slapstick or pratting about in silly costumes.

First Family has been all but forgotten by time and there's a good reason for it. There's rich potential for a farcical comedy set in the upper echelons of U. S. political power, but Buck Henry doesn't give his cast rich material or tight direction and instead it comes off as a bunch of people trying desperately to be amusing and failing miserably.

To me, the first half is funny as heck. Overall, the White House antics amount to a perceptive spoof of scarcely managed turmoil. That exchange between mother Kahn and daughter Radner over upholding appearances even though the repressed Radner's hormones are bursting is poignant in a satirical way. And catch the punctured dignity balloon among diplomats at the UN. It's delicious.

But once second-half events move to black people's country of Gorm, the screenplay loses footing. Of course, by today's standards the spoof's racial side flirts with incorrectness, which may account for the sudden erratic uncertainty. There are still amusing moments, but the screenplay appears to thrash around with no clear direction. And the less said about the ending, the better.

Anyway, the cast amounts to a collection of TV all-stars, from Newhart to Willard to Radner. In fact, there's probably too many stars, such that vivid talents like Kahn don't get nearly enough shtick. Likely, producer-director-writer Henry was aiming at a Mel Brooks type burlesque, but only partially succeeds. All in all, White House subject matter remains a ripe target for satire, but needs better consistency than this one.

I agree with the vast majority of other reviewers here. There's a great cast trying to make an un-funny script into a funny movie. I especially don't get the 'funny' of a costume party, which seems to go on far too long anyhow. What I do like about this movie is that it has something in it to offend nearly all of today's uber-offended groups who complain about every and anything they perceive as a negative remark or comment. When this movie came out 40 years ago, feelings were not so tender with everyone crying all the time about being offended, people could actually laugh at themselves.

If you want to watch this one, or save it as an example of something totally politically incorrect, I'd say to do that pretty soon as this is bound to disappear.

This morning they were playing old Howard Stern interviews on Sirius and one of them was with Gilda Radner, and sadly every time I see or hear her I'm reminded of this train wreck of a movie. We were four couples all devoted fans of the cast members and Buck Henry and forty years later we are all still scarred by this atrocity. Sometimes we hear the phrase, "A one-joke film", if only… In the Trivia caption of this movie it was said that the ending was rewritten because of negative feedback from audiences. The beginning and middle should have been rewritten, although I don't know that the ending we saw could have been worse. I believe that most of the other reviewers are in agreement that what makes this film so bad is the waste of the talents of these fine comedians.

One reviewer stated that this was the only movie he ever walked out on. We too were tempted, but I think we were hoping for something redeeming to save The First Family, sadly that was not to be.