The Wrong Guys (1988)

"The Wrong Guys" may never be as funny as one might wish it to be, but truthfully it does get by on the likability of the characters and does generate enough laughs to make it pleasant viewing. It's written by Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo, the guys who'd written the cult favourite low budget sci-fi item "Trancers", with Bilson also serving as director. A quintet of stand-up comedians play the main characters, Cub Scouts as children who get together as grown men for an outing. However, they will face opposition not only from their long ago bullying nemeses the Grunski brothers, but an escaped criminal psychopath (John Goodman) who mistakenly thinks them to be FBI agents. All of the main characters fit into comfortable roles tailored to their own personalities: top-billed Louie Anderson is the upbeat guy with the can-do attitude who marshals the others when it needs to be done, Tim Thomerson, a.k.a. "Jack Deth" of "Trancers" is still the surfer dude, Richard "Belz" Belzer is the sleazy womanizer, Richard Lewis the insufferable neurotic, and Franklyn Ajaye the touchy-feely radio therapist. With such a cast on hand, it's quite possible some of their best lines were improvised. Lewis's misadventures with a cot provide a highlight, while the Grunskis do battle with a nefarious squirrel and Tim and Belz attempt to hook up with some of the ladies at a nearby retreat. The top notch cast also includes Brion James and Biff Manard as the Grunskis, Ernie Hudson and Timothy Van Patten as Goodman's reluctant companions, Art La Fleur as pancake restaurant boss Woody Winslow (it's therefore noteworthy that this movie reunites him, Manard, and Thomerson as they were ALL in "Trancers"), Rita Rudner as Pam, Carole Ita White as one of the Grunski wives, Josh Saviano and Jonathan Brandis as the young Belz and Tim, Lenny Clarke as the cab driver, and Kathleen Freeman and Alice Ghostley in cameo appearances at the end. Maybe the humour is at times a little childish and silly, but nobody going into this should really expect anything more. It never really gets too unpleasant, and the cast all do a nice job; James and Manard are a hoot as the Grunskis. At least the movie doesn't go on any longer than it needs to. Six out of 10.

Five guys who were in the cub scouts together reunite years later to go camping. Were they run into their childhood nemeses as well as escaped convicts in this supreme unfunny supposed comedy. Most of the cast are content to simply phone it in, and don't really seem to care about the film in the least. The writers were so lazy that the names of the characters are, for the most part, the name of the actors that respectively play them. Richard Lewis's shtick gets really old REALLY quick. Even the late great character actor, Brion James can't save this stinker. (Even though he's one of the few actors in the film that doesn't totally embarrass himself) I hardly cracked a smile, much less had anything that would reasonably be even misconstrued as a laugh. Awful.My Grade:F

No, "The Wrong Guys" isn't the funniest movie, and it may not be the most well made of films, but it is a fun movie to watch. It's stupid, good, clean fun made by a bunch of comics who clearly just wanted to do a movie together.Given the state of movies today, this one doesn't seem all that bad by comparison. Just how many sequels to "Scary Movie" can there be anyway? And "White Chicks"??? Give me a break. Give me Richard Belzer tumbling down a mountain-side and landing on a 30 year old pack of "Fizzies" any day of the week.The Gruntski Bros. are hilarious, and John Goodman is so over-the-top BAD that it's good. The scenes when these guys were kids are freaking outstanding: Belz sneaking up on Louie's older sister is classic.Does it get better than "The Wrong Guys"? Sure it does. But it gets a helluva lot worse too.

Hindered by a lack of budget, in that what is really needed is a better hand at editing and cinematography, what remains is a silly, heartfelt romp.Look at the cast: John Goodman, Ernie Hudson, Louie Anderson, Richard Belzer and Richard Lewis. Each of the stand ups are given a chance to show off, most notably Lewis's dealing with a demon wood cot.Far from a perfect film, it has moments that anyone that camps for recreation with find almost unbearably funny, simply because it is true. Watching Lewis fight the cot, while another man is fighting one of those wretched tin tent stakes, trying to put up a Voyager style tent better suited for a MASH unit than an overnight camp, was so close to several of my own Cub Scout, and Boy Scout memories, that I was actually, indeed, laughing out loud.Here is a film that should be remade, with the original cast and script.