The 1980s produced some of the most iconic comedic moments in cinema. From infamous catchphrases to synonymous soundtracks, it was a decade of technological discovery and unforgettable performances. Because of this bodacious era of filmmaking, no fishing trip is complete without mention of the phrase, “You’re gonna need a bigger boat,” and there’s only one logical answer to the question, “Who you gonna call?”
Most audiences can conjure ’80s comedy movie references and quotes on demand, from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off to Ghostbusters, Coming to America, and Airplane! Innovations in special effects and relatable characters paired with A-list stars summoned multitudes outfitted with Swatch watches and side ponytails to theaters. However, after the credits rolled, not all ’80s comedies were remembered with wistful permanence due to bad timing, lack of exposure, anemic writing, or miscasting. These ’80s comedies are forgotten funny features that fall into those categories. Some deserve their place in oblivion, while others are just victims of bad luck.
10 ‘Gotcha!’ (1985)
Directed by Jeff Kanen
Jonathan Moore (Anthony Edwards) is a veterinary student at UCLA with above-average proficiency in a campus-wide paintball game called Gotcha! Unfortunately, Jonathan’s romantic aim is less accurate, so he travels abroad with his roommate, Manolo (Nick Corri), to rectify the situation. At a café in Paris, Jonathan falls in love with an enigmatic older woman named Sasha (Linda Fiorentino) and follows her to Berlin, leaving Manolo behind. In place of a love letter, Jonathan’s new love’s departing gift is an international burden: a mysterious parcel in hot pursuit by the CIA and KGB.
Gotcha! contains two noteworthy positives: a catchy theme song and Fiorentino’s charismatic performance. Unfortunately, the film is an unnecessarily intricate mess that attempts to meld espionage, comedy, romance, and paintball. The premise had promise, but there were too many players on the field and insufficient transparency for audience participation. Moviegoers remember the electro-pop soundtrack and a globe-trotting young Edwards but inquire about Gotcha’s plot and wait for the sound of crickets. Edwards nails a few one-liners and does his best with the script, but it’s no surprise Gotcha! failed to tag a place in the viewer’s long-term memory.
Gotcha! is not currently available to stream in the US.
9 ‘The Man With One Red Shoe’ (1985)
Director: Stan Dragoti
CIA Deputy Director Burton Cooper (Dabney Coleman) stages a coup for the position of CIA Director. However, acting CIA Director Ross (Charles Durning) is hip to Cooper’s power play and sets a trap via an unsuspecting civilian decoy chosen randomly by assistant Brown (Edward Herrmann). Violinist Richard Drew (Tom Hanks)is walking through the airport with one dress shoe and one red sneaker after a shoe-hiding prank orchestrated by his friend Morris (Jim Belushi) when he unwittingly becomes a pawn in the dueling Agents’ game.
Despite an impressive cast and generally entertaining action,
The Man With One Red Shoe
was a flop.
In The Man With One Red Shoe, mismatched footwear and a tapped phone line lead to the downfall of two high-level CIA agents. In addition to espionage, Hanks’ character engages in romantic entanglements with ’80s hot commodities Carrie Fisher and Lori Singer. Despite an impressive cast and generally entertaining action, the comedy/thriller was a flop. Some critics pointed to a lack of marketing for the film, while others suggested the 1985 American remake was lost in translation from the 1972 French original, Le Grand Blond avec une chassure noire. Regardless of its success, Hanks fans shouldn’t miss one of the beloved movie star’s early comedic roles.
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8 ‘Maid to Order’ (1987)
Directed by Amy Holden Jones
Jessie Montgomery (Ally Sheedy) is a spoiled, inconsiderate bon vivant arrested after a particularly rowdy night. Exasperated by his wild daughter, Jessie’s wealthy father, Charles (Tom Skerritt), offhandedly wishes that he’d never had a daughter as a star simultaneously falls from the sky. The following morning, Jessie is bailed out of jail by a stranger named Stella (Beverly D’Angelo), who informs Jessie that her life as she knows it no longer exists. Jessie ignores the woman’s claims but soon discovers her father’s wish has come true.
The Cinderella-adjacent story wasn’t aiming for the awards stage, and it could never compete with fellow 1987 films like Overboard, The Witches of Eastwick, and scores of others. However, flying below the crackling buzz of larger studio productions makes Maid to Order authentic in its messaging. Jessie, once well-acquainted with luxury, becomes an outlier overnight. As the chain-smoking fairy godmother, D’Angelo is splendid, while perpetually type-cast dad Skerritt gives aloofness a whirl. Brat Pack star Sheedy has excellent comedic instincts and leans into the riches-to-rags transformation, convincing audiences to root for Jessie, who entered the frame as a fairly unlikable character.
Maid to Order is not currently available to stream in the US.
7 ‘Brewster’s Millions’ (1985)
Directed by Walter Hill
Renewed vigor is injected into minor league pitcher Montgomery “Monty” Brewster’s (Richard Pryor) life when a distant relative surfaces with news of an inheritance. However, Monty doesn’t inherit his unknown great uncle’s (Hume Cronyn) three-hundred million dollar fortune without conditions. The bewildered baseball player must spend thirty million dollars in thirty days to collect the whole sum. Monty is forbidden from explaining this frivolous liquidation and must spend every penny by the end of the thirtieth day without outside help, or he inherits nothing.
The combination of legendary comedic legends Pryor and John Candy in an ’80s comedy had the potential to be a home run. However, Brewster’s Millions recycled story and lackluster writing created a missed opportunity, wasting their collective natural talent. The movie has moments, but Brewster’s haphazard spree becomes tedious, and audiences don’t make an investment in the underdeveloped romance.
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6 ‘Kiss Me Goodbye’ (1982)
Directed by Robert Mulligan
Young widow Kay (Sally Field) is trying to move on after the sudden death of her former husband, Jolly (James Caan), a Broadway performer. Three years after Jolly accidentally falls down the stairs in the home shared with Kay, she falls in love with a straight-laced Egyptologist, the polar opposite of her late husband. However, Jolly refuses to adhere to his final curtain and returns to the house as a relentless, dancing ghost. Visible only to Kay, Jolly does his haunted best to prevent her remarriage to fiancé Rupert (Jeff Bridges in his best Beau Bridges impersonation).
Kiss Me Goodbye produces genuine audience laughter, though credit for these moments belongs to the comedic timing of Field and Caan, not the writing. Hysterical one-sided public conversations aside (notably the miscommunication scene at the inn), the marquee players never find their choreographed footing, resulting in an unremarkable entry to the ’80s comedy compendium. Between The Godfather and Misery, Caan’s self-imposed semi-retirement from acting was predicated by his time on Kiss Me Goodbye. Irrespective of tumultuous behind-the-scenes activity and an overused plot device, watching these screen legends do their thing is always entertaining.
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5 ‘Her Alibi’ (1989)
Directed by Bruce Beresford
Successful mystery novelist Phil Blackwood (Tom Selleck) is in a writing rut and attends courtroom trials for inspiration. One afternoon, he observes a murder case involving a mysterious Romanian woman named Nina (Paulina Porizkova), whose disarming demeanor compels him to fabricate an alibi for her. The judge remands Nina to Blackwood’s care, and the two awkwardly navigate a shared space, though the writer isn’t convinced she’s innocent. As the strangers get to know each other, feelings develop, complicating Blackwood’s doubts.
Critics hated Her Alibi, full stop. While the general critical consensus was poor, Her Alibi was funny. In reality, the movie took itself as seriously as its wacky, implausible plot, and it worked. Throughout, Selleck provides dramatic voiceover as Phil Blackwell narrates the action from a writer’s perspective, inflating events with machismo and grandiose embellishments found in his detective novels. Blackwell’s suspicious friends offer comedic observations regarding the mysterious knife-throwing Romanian house guest, and Selleck’s physical comedy is chuckle-worthy.
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4 ‘Batteries Not Included’ (1987)
Directed by Matthew Robbins
An intimidating property developer approaches long-time tenants of an East Village apartment building and café with an aggressive acquisition offer. The café’s building managers and operators, Frank (Hume Cronyn) and Faye Riley (Jessica Tandy), and several others refuse to move from their homes, prompting the developers to retaliate with physical property damage. After evaluating the extensive damage, the tenants fear having to concede and leave, but two flying saucers appear and get to work on repairs.
From executive producer Steven Spielberg and the screenwriting debut of Brad Bird, Batteries Not Included is a charming underdog story with a sci-fi twist. Spielberg’s involvement resulted in a well-crafted movie with special effects that impress, even by ’80s standards. Like Short Circuit released the year before, nostalgic relevance is specific to Gen X folks. Audiences remember the catchy tune from Short Circuit, but they’d be hard-pressed to elaborate on its backstory. The same can be said for the inexplicable appearance and assistance of the adorable flying objects in *Batteries Not Included. Forego our modern film landscape littered with remakes and revisit this forgotten original featuring random acts of kindness and an unadulterated desire to fix it.
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3 ‘All of Me’ (1984)
Directed by Carl Reiner
Following a terminal diagnosis, Edwina Cutwater (Lily Tomlin), a woman bedridden since birth, decides to transfer her soul to a younger vessel with the help of a Guru named Prahka Lasa (Richard Libertini). Terry (Victoria Tennant), the young woman appointed to vacate her body, agrees to the wild arrangement because she doesn’t believe it will work. Disbelief abounds when the transfer does work with one snag: Edwina’s estate lawyer, Roger (Steve Martin), is in the wrong place at the body-swapping time.
Tomlin and Martin elevate Carl Reiner‘s other-worldly farce to heights most comedic actors couldn’t achieve. Audience members lose count of the soul exchanges and vessel housing in the film but never lose interest in the characters involved in the hysterical transfers. Exhaustive feats of physical comedy by American treasures Martin and Tomlin are not only abdominal-pain funny but also remind viewers how difficult the art form is and why excellence in humor should be celebrated (uh-hem, Academy Awards people). All of Me isn’t just another product of the body-swapping machine; it’s the difference between Farm to Table and a table at Applebees.
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2 ‘Married to the Mob’ (1988)
Directed by Jonathan Demme
Angela de Marco (Michelle Pfeiffer) and her young son attempt a life reset after the murder of her philandering mobster husband, Frank “The Cucumber” de Marco (Alec Baldwin). The remaining de Marcos think they travel far enough until mob boss Tony “The Tiger” Russo (Dean Stockwell) appears at their doorstep. Due to her involvement in the crime family, Angela is under FBI surveillance and unwittingly befriends an undercover agent, Mike Downey (Matthew Modine), and their mutual attraction further complicates her life. Additionally, Tony’s wife Connie (a tremendous Mercedes Ruehl) is somehow more frightening than the mob boss and is convinced Angela has been romantically entangled with Tony.
Big hair, bold prints, and a who’s-who assembly of character actors amount to a dangerously good time in Jonathan Demme‘s ’80s gangster movie. Good luck prying your eyes from the screen as Pfeiffer navigates foreign terrain (the workforce) as a single mother constantly looking over her leopard-printed shoulder. Ruehl’s passionate performance as Connie (the supermarket egg scene is high art) and Stockwell’s smarmy turn as the mild-mannered mobster are also strong points. So how could a film featuring high-caliber stars, a brilliant director, and a genuine good time be forgotten? 1988 was a massive year for movies; the wave of ’80s comedy hits was high, but the undercurrent held treasures like Married to the Mob.
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1 ‘Big Business’ (1988)
Directed by Jim Abrahams
A wealthy business executive from New York City travels to West Virginia with his very pregnant wife, who goes into labor in their limousine. Their driver finds a rural hospital in Jupiter Hollow where the city slickers’ identical twin daughters Sadie (Bette Midler) and Rose Shelton (Lily Tomlin), are born. At the same time, a local couple, the Ratliffs, also deliver a set of identical twin girls. Mr. Ratliff overhears the Sheltons naming their babies, likes their choices, and anoints their pair of twins, Rose (also Tomlin) and Sadie Ratliff (also Midler). In the baby-delivering melee, the rural hospital’s sole nurse accidentally confuses the twins, separating them until a chance encounter in Manhattan decades later results in a revelatory reunion.
Big Business is a one-hundred-minute comedy showcase by Midler and Tomlin. A supporting cast was present, but the actresses gloriously gobbled up every scene they entered. However, the movie didn’t garner the same enthusiastic viewership as Tomlin’s previous work in 9 to 5. Similarly, Midler fans gravitated to her other comedic offerings like Down and Out in Beverly Hills. Still, Big Business offers a comedic case study of nature versus nurture with clever writing and extravagant ’80s wardrobe transitions that demand to be seen. Tomlin hysterically loses a shoulder pad in a sheer blouse during a board meeting, Midler yodels in the street, and Edward Herrmann returns to remind viewers that he starred in everything circa the ’80s-’90s in this sensational sibling roast-off.
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