Y a-t-il quelqu'un pour tuer ma femme ?

I confess to loving comedies of the '80s, preferring them to what now passes for comedy. Ruthless People is a classic example of the genre, an extremely clever and funny film with a wonderful cast: Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Judge Reinhold, Helen Slater, Anita Morris, and Bill Pullman.

The story concerns a wealthy clothing manufacturer Sam Stone (DeVito) who wants to see his wife Barbara (Midler) dead and informs his mistress Carol (Morris) that he's going to kill her. The mistress sends her boyfriend (Pullman) to get the murder on tape so they can blackmail him. He gets something on tape, but it's not Stone killing Barbara. Carol doesn't look at the tape, and her boyfriend has never seen Stone, so they don't know what they have. Sam isn't able to murder Barbara because she's been kidnapped by two nice people who just want some money (Reinhold and Slater). Sam is thrilled - all he has to do is disobey all their orders, not pay up, and someone else will kill his wife.

This is a very engaging comedy about blackmail, attempted murder, mistaken identity, infidelity, stealing ideas -- none of which is a great premise for a comedy but all of which work beautifully here. Danny DeVito is hilarious, and Bette Midler gives probably her best performance as his wife, who just wants to lose a few pounds. Reinhold and Slater are as adorable as they are guileless.

Highly recommended.

Brought by the makers of AIRPLANE, RUTHLESS PEOPLE is a laugh riot of a movie. Danny DeVito leads the pack as a greedy millionaire who plans to murder his wife for her money, but becomes rapturous when she is kidnapped. DeVito is hilarious in the lead role. Judge Reinhold delivers a wacky performance as the kidnapper. Helen Slater does a great job – and she's also beautiful – as the kidnapper's fashion designer wife, but the real star of the movie is Bette Midler, as DeVito's kidnapped wife. Though this movie lacks a little bit of the quality that AIRPLANE had, it still has its share of really good performances and hilarious one-liners. Great entertainment!

4 out of 5

I saw this film in the theatre when it was released in 1986. I have been to a lot of movies, and this is the only one that I HAD to see again--just to hear the lines that had been drowned out by the audience's laughter!

Often a movie's previews will give away all the funny lines of a movie, and I remember that the previews for "Ruthless People" gave away the classic "I've been kidnapped by KMart" line. But for once, there were so many hysterically funny moments in this movie that it didn't matter. It's just that funny.

So if you haven't seen it, you really are missing something. Rent it and be prepared to hurt your sides laughing.

"Ruthless People" is a genuinely original farce that kept me laughing to the point of exhaustion. It's masterful how all these characters interweave, creating more and more hilarious subplots. The cast is a tour de force. Danny DeVito gives quite possibly the best comic performance of his career! Bette Midler is also great as his whiny, obnoxious wife. It's good to see Judge Reinhold, who practically disappeared after finishing the "Beverly Hills Cop" flicks. An early performance by Bill Pullman is also worth checking out. I think he's a real cool actor, but he usually plays the same yuppie roles. Here, he plays a dim-witted, trailer-trash airhead and is a delight to watch. There are so many funny moments that will stick in my mind forever, like when the serial killer invades the house. "You look like my mother, I hate my mother." And the confusion that was created with the sex video was absolutely classic. I haven't seen a good comedy in a while, nor have laughed this hard in a while. That's why I was glad to catch this movie on the Starz Network, because it is one of the funniest comedies I've ever seen and nowadays, you ain't gonna see too many good comedies, nor great ones like this. A MUST-SEE!!!

My score: 9 (out of 10)

80's hidden gem. Rude, crude and very funny. Danny DeVito on top form, Bill Pullman is fantastic playing the idiot. Watch it