Tom Hanks Comedy Favorites Collection (1986)

"[Dragnet] A comedy classic, Hanks and Aykroyd are great...  Clint Morris, MovieHole
"[Money] ...enhanced by Hanks' increasingly hysterical and appropriately broad performance.  David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews
"['Burbs] ...a number of inspired comic touches...enjoyable performances...  Doug Pratt, DVDLaser.com
"[Dragnet] Quite a fun take-off of a boring TV show.  Michael Szymanski, Zap2It.com
"['Burbs] ...amusing comedy with a nice twist.  NeedCoffee.com
"[Money] Memorably hilarious, with ace work by the two leads.  Nick Davis, Nick's Flick Picks

Editor's Note THE MONEY PIT: An updating of MR. BLANDINGS BUILDS HIS DREAM HOUSE in which an up-and-coming entertainment lawyer takes the big step with his girlfriend and purchases a fixer-upper for a "steal." As it turns out, the "steal" is really a "rip-off" and everything that can go wrong, does. THE 'BURBS: Set in an average neighborhood that is anything but average, Tom Hanks portrays suburbanite Ray Peterson, who finally takes a much-needed week of vacation. However, Ray doesn't use the time to jet off to some exotic locale, there are no frolicsome adventures in his plans, all he wants is a week of mindless relaxation in his own comfortable suburban home. His wife Carol (Carrie Fisher) warns him that he's liable to go crazy from the boredom, but he refuses to listen. The nothingness finally does get to him, however, and he creates a little excitement for himself by spying on his neighbors - the Klopeks, a mysterious, oddball family that just moved in to a dilapidated home down the street. When the neighborhood grouch mysteriously disappears, Ray and a motley crew of other neighborhood crackpots begin to concoct wild theories about the strange, and perhaps murderous, goings on in the Klopek's creepy, old house. For one brief, shining moment their lives seem to have some meaning and purpose as Ray and his friends become consumed with the secrets of the bizarre family. Tom Hanks is hysterical as Ray, bring his own brand of boyish charm and zany slapstick comedy to the screen. DRAGNET: A seemingly squeaky clean television reverend and a porno magazine king are suspected of operating a crime-ridden cult. It's up to Joe Friday's nephew and his "hip" partner to prove these allegations, with just the facts.

	Alexandra Paul
	Bruce Dern
	Carrie Fisher
	Christopher Plummer
	Corey Feldman
	Dan Aykroyd
	Joe Mantegna
	Maureen Stapleton
	Shelley Long
	Tom Hanks
	Joe Dante - ['Burbs] Director
	Richard Benjamin - [Money] Director
	Tom Mankiewicz - [Dragnet] Director

DVD Times 8 of 10
[Money] Arriving in 1986, Richard Benjamin's The Money Pit saw Tom Hanks move into a new house with his girlfriend Anna (Shelley Long). Just as soon as they move into their dream home things start to go very wrong. One thing after another - the front door falling off its hinges twice, the stairs collapsing, the taps gushing out dirty sludge instead of water, and rampant pests living in the cupboards...It's very funny, from the slapstick physical comedy to the beautiful timing of the actors and the director's penchant for allowing the 'reaction' to dictate the scene. Hanks is on top form and this is certainly one of the best and most enjoyable comedies he's made. - Daniel Stephens

The Washington Post 8 of 10
['Burbs] As a director, Joe Dante has a sharp eye for the peculiarity of everyday things, and in "The 'Burbs," his new comedy starring Tom Hanks, a placid suburban neighborhood becomes a kind of yuppie Hell town...Hanks is as boyishly endearing as ever, but he's not showing us anything new here -- he's coasting. Fisher is forced to play the unfortunate role of the chastising wife, and though she's not bad, her talents aren't on prominent display. The only real standout in the cast is Henry Gibson, who has very little to do except edge his way into the frame and glower like a deranged pixie, but does it marvelously. - Hal Hinson

Chicago Sun-Times 8 of 10
[Dragnet] The movie takes the basic ingredients of the "Dragnet" TV shows, kids them and plugs them into a bizarre plot about a cult of Los Angeles pagans who hold weird satanic rites. Dan Aykroyd stars as Joe Friday, nephew of the original, and he was born to play this role, with his off-the-rack brown suit, his felt fedora and his square jaw with the Chesterfield pasted into it. Tom Hanks is his partner, the nonconforming Detective Streebek, game for anything but puzzled by Aykroyd's straight-arrow squareness...Aykroyd's performance is the centerpiece of the film. He must have practiced for hours, even days, to perfect the rapid-fire delivery he uses to rattle off polysyllabic utterances of impenetrable but kaleidoscopic complexity. Listening to him talk in this movie is a joy. - Roger Ebert