Brewster's Millions (1985)

A fun and feel good kind of film, a trip back to a childhood film, pulled off greatly by the comedy great Richard Pryor.

"Brewster's Millions" is a fun film starring the late Richard Pryor (See No Evil, Hear No Evil,Harlem Nights) as Monty Brewster and the late John Candy (The Great Outdoors, Delirious) as Spike Nolan. Monty Brewster has a chance to inherit over 300 million dollars from his late great uncle. However, Brewster has only 30 days to spend 30 million dollars without accumulating assets. He must also avoid telling those around him the underlying reasons for his behavior. The film hints at this difficulty shown through Spike Nolan doing what he can as a caring and true friend to help Brewster increase his financial fortune. Naturally, Nolan is shown being justifiably confused when he notices Brewster's discomfort when his income rises. The part where Brewster decides to go into politics is humorously entertaining.John Candy is actually youthful and exuberant in this too. Rick Moranis has a cameo too. Great to watch. "Brewster's Millions" is a lot better than so many other comedies today, and I wouldn't be surprised if it gets dusted from the vaults again by Hollywood... I actually think director Walter Hill (48 Hours) did a good job. This really holds up well through the years.Overall rating: 8 out of 10.

Half a dozen versions of "Brewster's Millions" had been made, dating back into the silent era, before this 1985 film. The story is based on a 1902 novel by George B. McCutcheon. This movie, with Richard Pryor and John Candy stacks up well with the other films. It's updated ($30 million in 1985 versus $1 million in 1945), with prices, costs and other things being quite different. It has some novel twists and pokes fun at New York politics. So, it succeeds overall. Richard Pryor is very good as Monty Brewster, and most others of the cast give very good performances. But, John Candy stands out as Spike Nolan. He's a delight to watch with his frustration over Monty's not wanting to invest a little of his many millions for the future. The two have just come from nowheresville, and Spike remembers all too well that they could wind up back there. So, every time Monty hires someone for a ludicrous salary, Spike wants it to be half or less. Except for some sparse vulgar language, this film is generally clean. The baseball scenes with Monty on the pitcher's mound and Spike behind the plate are hilarious.

While Brewster's Millions is not a perfect movie by all means, but it is a bright and breezy film that does have its heart in the right place. Also, as far as comedies go it is not one of the most defining films of the genre, but to be a good movie Brewster's Millions didn't need to be that.As I have said already, Brewster's Millions is not a perfect film. The plot is on the predictable and simple side and I can understand why one might find it bizarre too with its concept and all though I did find it refreshing in a sense on the other side of the argument. The ending feels rather abrupt and could have been rounded off better, and also while others may be divided on whether to perceive this as a flaw, Brewster's Millions does have a theme that is firmly rooted in the 80s which may date it slightly.However, it is nicely filmed, with striking locations and nice cinematography and editing, while the soundtrack is nicely 80s without dating the film. The film does work in its humour, the script is funny without the need to be too sophisticated and smart, while the odd situation also made me chuckle. The direction is good enough, the film is paced well and it is a good length. And although the story is quite simple, there is enough material to engage throughout, and a lot of it is to do with the fun chemistry between Richard Pryor and John Candy. Pryor I can find loud and unfunny at times, and other times where he is a lot of fun, his performance here is the latter and it does help that his character and most of the characters here are likable, while Candy really does shine. There is also a hilarious cameo from Rick Moranis and Jerry Orbach is always good value.All in all, Brewster's Millions is a fun film with heart even if there are parts/aspects that could have done with more work. 7/10 Bethany Cox