An early sign that Hanks was very talented

**Part of a film series i'm doing on 1986, which is part of a larger ranking/review series on the 80's

THE MONEY PIT (UNIVERSAL, 1986) MOVIE REVIEW:
With Tom Hanks, Shelly Long, Alexander Godunov
Directed by Richard Benjamin

One of Tom Hank’s 80’s comedies, “The Money Pit” is pretty slight and uneven but considering “The Man with One Red Shoe” and “Volunteers” also exist, it probably doesn’t even begin to define his early career struggles. The opening stretch of it is actually fairly promising even. Hanks is a lawyer facing eviction and the need for real estate quick, which leads him and his girlfriend (Shelly Long) to buying a cheap mansion which they soon realize is cheap for a good reason. The stairs and front door crumble, the bathtub and fireplace fall through the floor, and the kitchen is a domino effect of horrors. Once they’ve moved into the house it’s pretty obvious Richard Benjamin’s movie is going to be geared more toward slapstick, a lot of which strains credibility that someone could walk away from this Looney Tune scenario unscathed, or even alive, but nonetheless some of this is manages big laughs all the same. And Hanks proves beyond a shadow of a doubt what a charismatic goof he can really be (a scene where the character gets trapped in a hole in the floor works all the more because he pokes fun at himself). Honestly the movie is fine up until the hour mark where it trots out some superfluous conflict concerning the Long character’s ex-husband (Alexander Godunov of “Die Hard) and the laughs start to dry up. Overall “The Money Pit” is diverting fun but we know now that Hanks is capable of so much more.
Grade: 2.5 out of 4

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