Too much of everything

Absolutely Fantastic

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

This is a crime comedy featuring Shelley Long and Bette Midler as acting students Lauren and Sandy, who don't know they were sharing a lover in Michael (Peter Coyote). After he disappears after a bombing, they set out on a cross-country search to find him, running into CIA and KGB along the way. Soon, they realize their lives are in danger and Michael isn't all he cracks up to be.It's a film with lots of corny, sexual humor, slapstick comedy and outrageous, overzealous acting. But, the mismatched chemistry between Shelley Long and Bette Midler was pretty hilarious; their acting wasn't too bad. It is also pretty entertaining seeing their misadventures across the country, and the climax at the New Mexico desert was action-packed.I used to watch bits and pieces of the movie on TV and thought it was a pretty fun film. I finally watched the film in its entirety online and, while it's not the best comedy I've seen, it's worth a watch if you want some entertainment on a quiet Saturday afternoon.Grade B-

Bette Midler and Shelley Long star in "Outrageous Fortune," a 1987 comedy also starring Robert Prosky, Peter Coyote, John Schuck, George Carlin and the almost unrecognizable Anthony Heald.Lauren (Long) and Sandy (Midler) are two women taking the same acting class with the brilliant, Stanislavsky-like Korzenowski (Prosky). What they don't know is that they are dating the same man, Michael (Coyote). When he's killed in a bombing, both women wind up at the morgue, and after taking a good look at the body's southern regions, realize it's not their boyfriend. Once they set out to find him, they find that the KGB and the CIA are after them, and they can't tell the good guys from the bad.This is a fun movie, with Midler a scream as a burlesque queen and Long as the uptight, Diane Chambers-like aspiring serious actress. George Carlin plays an Indian who helps them, and he's very funny.There is a lot of running in this film, up hills, leaping across cliffs, etc., as the women try to escape whomever is chasing them at the moment.A very popular film from the '80s, which was Bette Midler's movie heyday. She is a wonderful comedienne and dramatic actress - it's a shame that Hollywood's ageism caused her film career to dry up. Well, also some poor choices such as turning down Sister Act. Long did not make it to true movie stardom, but she is good here. Directed by Arthur Hiller.

What it lacks in originality it makes up for in chuzpah and pace. It also 'plants' key elements that will be needed in the last reel in the first reel (specifically Long being shown as accomplished in fencing and leaping). I can only agree with the poster who queried what kind of a guy would be drawn to both the personification of genteel breeding, stylish clothes, sophistication etc(as personified by Long) and the blowzy, uncouth, unpolished street-wise hooker (personified by Middler), in real life now way but this is a movie, right, so artistic license comes into play. By and large this 80s attempt at 30s Screwball keeps us interested and gives good diversion.

Terribly embarrassing and unfunny 'comedy' from Arthur Hiller about two women who pursue a mysterious man across the U.S., both determined to win him from the other.Leslie Dixon's story is a disaster (containing a sub-plot involving the inept heroines saving the world's vegetation from certain destruction by a deadly virus), never holding its audience for a minute, and hardly ever raising a laugh. Director Hiller can't do a thing with this awful tale, and is completely reliant on stars Long and Midler to carry proceedings.The two leads are really the only element that make "Outrageous Fortune" even remotely watchable. Likable Long and mad Midler do all they can with their hopelessly limited material, which is very little, and in so doing reduce the pain of sitting through this total waste of celluloid. The next best thing after the girls are the end credits.Director of Photography David M. Walsh amazingly does nothing with the potential packed closing scenes, while editor Tom Rolf could never do enough. Also starred Peter Coyote, Robert Prosky and George Carlin.Saturday, June 29, 1996 - Video