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To me this one is one of the unsung classic comedies of the 80s and perhaps Tom Hanks top 5 performances in a movie.  It has never failed to crack me up and it has moments that are absolutely comic gold.  Luckily it just got picked up on Netflix streaming and I'm watching it now. 

My wife and I dig out this DVD every now and then.  However, I prefer the far superior MR. BLANDINGS BUILDS HIS DREAM HOUSE with Cary Grant and Myrna Loy.

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I love this movie. Not only is it delightfully nostalgic (the existence of Shelley Long and the guy from Die Hard provide a lot of this), but also stands up well over time. I watched it a few months ago and laughed out loud many times. Solid comedy dialogue and brilliant sight gags wonderfully edited are happily combined.

It is extremely rare for me to give 5/5, and I won't here, but it's very, very close:

4.8/5.

I remember seeing this in the theater (twice) when I was a kid.  Good stuff, and it does still hold up.  "Two weeks"

I wish Tom Hanks would do more comedies. I'd forgotten about this one, but now that you mention it, I liked it too. It had a great cast and I think Richard Benjamin directed it.

Ask and thou shalt receive.

Richard Benjamin was the director on this. Which is the fourth film he directed. He'd go on and direct fifteen more films, both for TV and the cinema.

As for the cast . . .

Alexander Godunov, the ballet dancer, who had something of a career in films, after leaving the ballet; Maureen Stapleton; Joe Mantegna; Josh Mostel, Zero Mostel's son; and one of my favorite character actors of all time, the late John Van Dreelen.

This movie is so underrated. My whole family used to watch this one when I was a kid and I remember the belly laughs from my big sister during the scene when Walter gets stuck in the hole of his floor. I introduced my girlfriend to this film about a year ago and she also loved it.

"Two weeks, two weeks. You sound like a parakeet."

Great post.

Very good movie.  We just watched it.  The funniest part was when Tom fell into the hole in the floor and got stuck in the rug.  A true classic.

Later,

John

Bigtime props have to be given to the whole slapstick sequence where all havoc breaks loose when Tom Hanks goes off to get water for their morning routine. When you really look at that whole sequence you really have to marvel at what it took to pull off that scene.

Anytime Shelley Long isnt ignoring you know its a good thing.

If you like The Money Pit, I recommend checking out Moving.

My wife and I are both fans of The Money Pit, yet we've never watched together, until a few nights ago. We brought it up and watched it together on NetFlix and laughed quite a few times. It used to be in my top 10 80's comedies but it's now moved into the top 5 with ease.

The moment when the bathtub crashes through the floor and shatters on the ballroom floor.. and Hanks completely loses it and starts laughing insanely .. that's a good one too.

Home Crap Home...I occasionally used that when my wife and I lived in a dumpy apartment in the woods.  :bouncegiggle:

The slapstick AND the dialogue are both good. The whole exchange the morning after their big fight was amazing:

she: "Sometimes I'm amazed you passed the bar."
he: "Not surprising. You've never passed a bar in your life."
she: "You're so much less attractive when I'm sober."
he: "Thank goodness it's not that often."

The part with HANKS in the carpet halfway thru the hole in the floor...  :bouncegiggle:

The carpet is classic comedy but I think the one that gets me rolling is (as already mentioned) the sequence where he goes to get water and ends up accidentally destroy the whole job site.  Also, the part where she finds the raccoon in the closet and he ends up collapsing the steps.

I remember laughing at the line that the owner had to sell the house cheap because of legal bills. He was being tried for warcrimes because "He was hitler's pool man." I.E. the guy who maintained hitler's swimming pool, if he even had one...