This was one of my favorite comedies from the 1980s. Bette Midler and Danny Devito did a terrific job. I love the way the plot worked and how everything got so intertwined, and can't help but wonder if the writers came up with that plot to start with, or if they worked and reworked it to come up with the final product. It seems they would have had a ton of options.

Ruthless People and Real Genius were my two favorite comedies from the 1980s and was very glad when they both came out on DVD. Unfortunately, both came out before I was able to watch movies in theatres (at that time, I'd only seen 2 movies in theatres), so through the years, I'd only been able to watch them on VHS in 4:3. It was nice to see these movies in their original forms. Ruthless People seemed more "intimate" than I remember it being. I'll have to look at the VHS again and see if there was a lot of empty space above people's heads (open-matte transfer).

I remember seeing Ruthless People back in 1986 or 1987 and renting many other comedies hoping to find others as funny as Ruthless People and not finding many that came close. If you've never seen this movie, I highly recommend it. I don't want to give plot details for those of you who haven't seen it. This movie instantly turned me into a Bette Midler and Danny Devito fan.

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Evans A Criswell
Huntsville-Decatur Movie Theatre Information Site

It has been a long time, but as I recall this was one of if not the first film under the Touchstone pictures logo for disney, as they needed to get into more adult themed movies to make money. Back then they were doing horribly as I recall.

Dave
 

Very funny and well made too.

Favorite scene is "This may well be the stupidest man on the face of the earth"

Rent it!