Une baraque à tout casser

The Money Pit is directed by Richard Benjamin and written by David Giler. It stars Tom Hanks, Shelley Long, Alexander Godunov and Maureen Stapleton. Music is by Michael Colombier and cinematography by Gordon Willis. Plot finds Hanks and Long as a young couple who buy what they think is their dream house, only to find the house falling apart around them.

Mozart is dead, his troubles are over.

He went on to be a big mover in the acting world did Tom Hanks, so much so it's always a little weird revisiting his comedy output in the 1980s because he's a vastly different actor now. Yet for many of us, that decade holds many treasures, where nostalgic fever takes a hold and a warm glow does come with watching the young Hanks bound about with comedic glee. The Money Pit doesn't have the cult worship of Splash or the internet respect of Big, yet it's a wonderfully funny picture that finds Hanks on optimum energised form. The plot might be thin and Long kind of gets pushed to one side, but this has much to enjoy with a bottle of vino and snacks. That is, of course, if you don't mind laughing at the misfortune of new home owners?! I am sinking fast into the money pit.

A number of sequences are pure farce, but in the good way, stairs collapse, as does the chimney, doors, floors and a leaking roof bring the mirth, as does a laugh out loud bath moment. It sounds a little chaotic, and it is at times, but the screenplay allows Hanks & Long, and the wonderful Godunov, time to breath life into the characters. There's a lovely romance at the core of the story, one that inevitably will be tested by the chaos of the house renovations and Godunov's third party ex. They are a very likable couple and easy to root for. Helps that Hanks is full of effervescent boyishness and Long is so homely and pretty, the latter of which I don't think has ever looked better than during a red dress sequence here.

If the foundation is OK? Then everything else can be fixed.

It doesn't have any surprises in store, it goes exactly where you expect it too, which naturally renders the final third as being all about the sentiment and the message. With the comedy gone, picture struggles a touch to put the final coat of paint on the project. But it's nicely underplayed by the actors and really this is about love triumphant against adversity. With the laughs that came previously more than making this a blues lifter for the nostalgic amongst us. 7.5/10

Tom Hanks and his girlfriend are desperatedly in need of money and a new house. They find a beautiful house at a very low price, which seems too good be true. And it is. Hilarious disasters will follow, when they disover how disastrous their new home really is.

I love Tom Hanks ( and also Shelley Long from Cheers) in their younger days. Hanks was an unguided comedy projectile back then, with wild antics that are just to die for so funny.

Just a lovely comedy about all the disasters that can go wrong and therefore WILL GO WRONG when starting a renovation! The jokes still stand strong after many decades. Must see for Tom Hanks fans. Suited for young and old.

I loved this movie. Granted, I was a teen when I first saw it, but even so, I laughed often and that is my standard of judgment. Shelley Long is as good as she was in Cheers (which is gooood). Tom Hanks shows off the early "Bosom Buddies" hopes of physical comedy genius here in a way that he never did again. The bee-attack scene to the flight of the Bumblebee violin solo is fabulous. the whole "We're Sitting on a Dream" sequence with the stairs and doorbell and raccoon and the bathtub is hilarious but PEOPLE. Come on. The entire collapsing stairs bit is the best, capped off by Hanks sweet little blown kiss at the end ... slayed me. My brother and I still reference it whenever everything is more crap than bearable, and we always will. I think this is an overlooked gem and will always have it in my video catalogue. Finally, a quote: Paint. Don't tickle. Alexander Gudonow will be missed.

Tom Hanks and Shelley Long star in this hilarious film about a couple who buy a million dollar home for $200,000 - only to find out it's going to cost close to a million to repair it! Wood rot, raccoons in the dumbwaiter, a bad roof, bad plumbing, bad electricity - you name it, this house has it. Hard to choose the funniest scene - the staircase collapse or Hanks getting dumped in cement.

The entire cast is excellent, from Maureen Stapleton, the former homeowner whose boyfriend is being deported, Hanks' clients (he's an entertainment attorney), the many workers who populate the house, or Douglass Watson, Hanks' embezzler father who now lives in Rio.

It would also be hard to choose the funniest line, but for anyone who has owned a home, probably the Shirks Brothers line when their team comes to repair the house - "Your name came up in a drawing - we work today!"

Richard Benjamin, actor (Westworld, 1973) goes director, directed this entertaining film fun about a down-on-his-luck couple desperately fighting for the survival of their relationship while the roof over their heads - and their bank account - slip into an increasingly precarious predicament.

With Tom Hanks and Shelley Long prominently cast, both have convincing chemistry in this classic piece reminiscent of comedies of the '50s and '60s.

The humor comes more with slapstick interludes and is very physical. The film is very entertaining and diverting.

A compelling good-mood film with a young Tom Hanks.