I wanted to but couldn't!

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Absolutely Fantastic

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Very funny comedy version of Strangers on a Train. Billy Crystal plays a teacher named Larry struggling with writer's block after his ex-wife stole his idea and turned it into a successful novel. Danny DeVito is one of Billy's students named Owen, a middle-aged man living with his overbearing mother and daydreaming of killing her. After seeing the aforementioned Alfred Hitchcock movie Strangers on a Train, Owen gets the idea that he and Larry should swap murders. So he takes it upon himself to try and kill Larry's ex.Up to this point the movie is excellent and paced very well. The scenes of DeVito in Hawaii calling Billy to let him know of his plan, each time from a different payphone with a different backdrop even though the calls take place seconds apart, are hilarious. Then the movie becomes about Billy freaking out and doing his routine for awhile. No offense to Billy, he's good in this really, but when the focus isn't on DeVito the movie just isn't as entertaining. So after a strong start it stalls a little, then the last twenty minutes or so feels a tad rushed. It felt like the climax should have been stretched out a bit more. Still, fun movie with lots of laughs. Both stars are in top form with a fine supporting cast backing them up. Some of the students in Billy's writing class are scene stealers. It should go without saying that Anne Ramsey's performance is probably the film's highlight. Every one of her scenes is terrific. This is definitely a movie you'll want to see if you have any interest in the actors involved or if you liked the Hitchcock film and want to see a movie that pays homage to it in a humorous way.

Immensely dark comedy for its time, about writer Crystal and student DeVito plotting a criss-cross murder à la STRANGERS ON A TRAIN. Because of its smooth parallels to Hitchcock's 1950 class, overlooked motifs and subtle details on story development, THROW MOMMA has since become a fun movie to screen in film study classes. Unfortunately, the film's most colorful character, Momma Lift (Ramsey), is way underused; and while Crystal and DeVito are both fine as the leads, neither deliver a memorable enough performance to justify Ramsey's lack of screen-time. DeVito also directed.*** (out of four)

Owen is a little nuts. His mother drove him there. Larry is distraught. His ex-wife stole his award winning manuscript. Owen wants Larry to do a little favor for him… Larry wants his life back. So begins one of the classic comedies of modern times. Excellently done in all aspects with absolutely nothing lacking. If you are a writer… if you have ever been screwed over by a girl… if you had a dominating bitch of a mother… if you love Woody Allen movies… you will LOVE this movie.The chemistry of this brew that makes it all work is casting, writing, direction, and TALENT! Something sadly lacking from most modern movies. Stu Silver wrote the TV sitcom "Soap" in which Billy Crystal also starred, so Silver's framed sampler-worthy lines are perfect for Crystal as Larry Donner, a writing class professor whose ex-wife has done him dirty. DeVito is perfect for his role as the harried Owen Lift… son of the queen of all bitter controlling mothers. Unlike most movies…there is not one square peg in the cast. Anne Ramsey makes the whole plot believable. It is hard to imagine the movie being so "right" with any other actress.Silver never forgets the cardinal rule of comedies… you never mix genres for the purity of a perfectly crafted movie. Serious danger does not belong in a comedy. You may take the audience on a roller coaster ride while making them laugh, but you never let the coaster leave the tracks. Everybody gets back safely for another ride in an amusement park… and this is an amusement park ride of "E" ticket quality!

This is a comedy version of "Strangers on a Train". It works pretty well. I am a harsh grader, so the 3 rating reflects mostly on the characters and plot. The performances are extremely good, all of them. Of course, the two stars, DeVito and Crystal, shine most. Each performer acts well enough to play off of. The comedy works in a level just short of slapstick. DeVito characters work best when depraved. His character, portrayed as a writing hack, would probably be more real if he was published and lauded as much as most hacks are. His character would, in real life, have a great agent and multiple solicitations. The characters are one dimensional, which is okay in comedy. But Crystals's character is not written very well. His desire to kill the "moma" all of a sudden makes no sense at all. It looks like a pitiful attempt at humor. The pitiful attempts are not too often, and the movie flows fairly well.