Y a-t-il quelqu'un pour tuer ma femme ?

I confess to loving comedies of the '80s, preferring them to what now passes for comedy. Ruthless People is a classic example of the genre, an extremely clever and funny film with a wonderful cast: Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Judge Reinhold, Helen Slater, Anita Morris, and Bill Pullman.

The story concerns a wealthy clothing manufacturer Sam Stone (DeVito) who wants to see his wife Barbara (Midler) dead and informs his mistress Carol (Morris) that he's going to kill her. The mistress sends her boyfriend (Pullman) to get the murder on tape so they can blackmail him. He gets something on tape, but it's not Stone killing Barbara. Carol doesn't look at the tape, and her boyfriend has never seen Stone, so they don't know what they have. Sam isn't able to murder Barbara because she's been kidnapped by two nice people who just want some money (Reinhold and Slater). Sam is thrilled - all he has to do is disobey all their orders, not pay up, and someone else will kill his wife.

This is a very engaging comedy about blackmail, attempted murder, mistaken identity, infidelity, stealing ideas -- none of which is a great premise for a comedy but all of which work beautifully here. Danny DeVito is hilarious, and Bette Midler gives probably her best performance as his wife, who just wants to lose a few pounds. Reinhold and Slater are as adorable as they are guileless.

Highly recommended.

This is one of my favorite movies. I laughed hysterically at every joke, every joke hit its target. But that's not what's so great about this movie. This movie has an all-star cast (Devito, Midler, Reinhold, Pullman) and they do a great job with the script. But that's not what's so great about this movie. The best thing about this movie is the intricately woven plot, which keeps your attention and comes to a hilarious finale. This is one of the funniest movies ever. See this and you won't regret it.

It's a tight script for Touchstone, a comedy of errors where three plots and serial killer meet in a happy end.

I saw this during its original release and loved it. I still love it. It's nice to see a movie without a lot of toilet humour and f-bombs. The dialog is filled with memorable lines but the humour is in knowing what the characters don't and the on screen charisma of Di Vito and Middler.

Pay attention and you'll see the L.A. cityscape during the 80's along with all that was bad in 80's design along with Santa Monica Pier before the redesign in the 90's.

Great film for a rain day or a bad mood.

...they made movies with comic premises, story structure, and denoument. This movie has them all, and most comedies by comparison are puffed-up TV fare.

The tone is almost European: There are no good guys, and the protagonist is willing, even eager, for his wife to be killed by her kidnappers.

Forget nudity or explicit violence. You know you're watching a film for grown-ups when it's willing to plumb the depths of this situation for the comic gold within, not just string a few gags on it.

Highest accolades all around.

Bette Midler, Danny DeVito, Judge Reinhold and Helen Slater all mixed and matched perfectly in this film about one loud and obnoxious woman. Hilarious in its implementation, the way the lives of the characters unfold in a funny and unpredictable manner. If you haven't seen this classic comedy, then get a whiff of this film, just to see the genius of DeVito and Midler in their primes. While the humor may be a little dated, it still offers some fairly clean fun for all to enjoy.