IMDb RATING
5.2/10
1.6K
YOUR RATING
Insurance agent plots with client to kill her nutty husband.Insurance agent plots with client to kill her nutty husband.Insurance agent plots with client to kill her nutty husband.
- Directors
- John Cassavetes
- Andrew Bergman(original director, replaced by John Cassavetes) (uncredited)
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaMaking this film cost Columbia Pictures the opportunity to make one of the most successful films of the 1980s. Just as the film was set to go into production, Columbia executives learned that the film could not be made unless they got the authorization of Universal. The legal department determined that "Big Trouble" was a remake of Double Indemnity (1944), which the latter studio owned. Universal's then-current head was Frank Price, who formerly ran Columbia. He was willing to give Columbia the remake rights to "Double Indemnity" under one condition - they would give Universal the rights to a sci-fi script that had caught his fancy at Columbia that the current management was sitting on. The trade was successful. Columbia was able to make "Big Trouble," which bombed, while the sci-fi film they passed on to Universal, Back to the Future (1985), was a great success.
- Quotes
Leonard Hoffman: Fourteen thousand dollars a year, multiply that by three, that's forty-two thousand dollars a year tuition. They want two hundred thousand dollars to send three kids to Yale for four years.
- Crazy creditsThe 1976 Columbia "Sunburst" logo, complete with its audio, is used on this film instead of the studio's then-current 1981 logo.
- ConnectionsReferenced in Ghost Dad (1990)
- SoundtracksHappy Brithday to You
Written by Mildred J. Hill and Patty S. Hill
Featured review
unusual Cassavetes style comedy
This is a demanding comedy, because much of the humor depends on references to classic films, and will be lost to someone who is not familiar with them. It does have many incredibly funny scenes on its own right, and some great performance bits.
Plus Beverly D'Angelo is gorgeous and very funny both.
See some later reviews for relevent films, and consider seeing the referenced films first to appreciate the humor more. Without understanding the references and parodies of this film-maker's comedy though, it might be confusing.
Also consider seeing some of Cassavetes work first, to get an idea of what he is usually about. This film melds his own idosyncratic style with a more mainstream American comic style, but has the timing and structure of Godard film.
Big Trouble is a a reteaming of some of the acting same talent that made the incredibly funny The In-Laws. It is much more surrealistic and avant-garde, being directed by that greatest of American directors John Cassavetes. Like the films he himself scripted, it is more character than plot driven. Cassavetes is exploring something in this film; it is not a consistently drop-down funny flim like The In-Laws, nor is the action as suspenseful and spine-tingling, but it has some incredibly funny moments, including one of the funniest scenes ever put on film (try some sardine liquor). Not to be missed by Cassavetes fans or die-hard In-Laws fans who want more.
Someone looking for an easy to watch straight-ahead comedy or action/adventure film, however, might be disappointed.
Plus Beverly D'Angelo is gorgeous and very funny both.
See some later reviews for relevent films, and consider seeing the referenced films first to appreciate the humor more. Without understanding the references and parodies of this film-maker's comedy though, it might be confusing.
Also consider seeing some of Cassavetes work first, to get an idea of what he is usually about. This film melds his own idosyncratic style with a more mainstream American comic style, but has the timing and structure of Godard film.
Big Trouble is a a reteaming of some of the acting same talent that made the incredibly funny The In-Laws. It is much more surrealistic and avant-garde, being directed by that greatest of American directors John Cassavetes. Like the films he himself scripted, it is more character than plot driven. Cassavetes is exploring something in this film; it is not a consistently drop-down funny flim like The In-Laws, nor is the action as suspenseful and spine-tingling, but it has some incredibly funny moments, including one of the funniest scenes ever put on film (try some sardine liquor). Not to be missed by Cassavetes fans or die-hard In-Laws fans who want more.
Someone looking for an easy to watch straight-ahead comedy or action/adventure film, however, might be disappointed.
helpful•102
- LesHalles
- Jul 10, 2002
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Sterben... und leben lassen
- Filming locations
- 4000 West Alameda Avenue, Burbank, California, USA(insurance company office building - exterior)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
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