Touches You

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Let's be realistic.

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Andy and Elizabeth Farmer (see what they did?) buy a farm in Vermont, but they can't imagine what awaits them. Andy has quit his job as a sports journalist and is planning to use the peace and quiet of the to write his Novel. But there's little peace and even less quiet. From a troubled mailman to a dead body buried in the garden, Andy is distracted by the town and its eccentric inhabitants. His effort at a novel are mundane, and he's threatened by Elizabeth's foray into writing when she attempts a children's book......Chase was quite a big draw in the early eighties, but after The Three Amigos, his output began to coast, and the quality of his films got weaker and weaker.This in particular is one of his lowest points. It's your atypical fish out of water comedy, Culturally offensive, because obviously, the rich kids from the City are far more intelligent than everyone else in this film.Until they bond withe the townsfolk and realise that we are all equals.'Hilarity' in this film includes Chase throwing hot coffee over a bird, and him eating sheep testicles, oh how my sides split.So the film follows Chase getting increasingly vexed, until he has his token breakdown, and he does that tired schtick where he says something sarcastically, and then probably falls over.The last good films Chase made were Xmas Vacation, and Nothing But Trouble (It's just too oddball to be bad), but having the word Funny in the title, is wholly ironic.Would make a really mundane double bill with the same years Richard Pryor 'Comedy', 'Moving'...

Writer Andy (Chevy Chase) and wife Elizabeth Farmer move to the country Redbud, Vermont. At first, they see the little problems as quaint. Their movers have a harrowing time finding their house. However, the weird locals and unending problems overwhelm them. Elizabeth doesn't like Andy's manuscript and writes a children's book of her own. It all falls apart as the couple decides to get divorced and sell their home. They offer the locals money to fool prospective buyers.It has a couple of good chuckles but the movie is more quirky than funny. Chevy's air of superiority gets into the way sometimes. He's not always lovable. This is not that bad either. I had a couple of chuckles but it's not enough.

I made an attempt to watch this on NetFlix and got just over half way through it before I had to tap out. I always try to give films I've never seen a fare shake but this movie is tedious.Some of the situations are comically ridiculous and I can see why it's supposed to be funny the stuff I did find funny only worked up a mild chuckle out of me. When you are watching a comedy and asking yourself "where is the stuff I'm going to laugh out loud at?" it's not a good sign.If you are curious and want to know about this film look on wikipedia. and you'll get the same amount of enjoyment. Should have been titled "Mildly Amusing Farm"

Chevy Chase is normally associated with the Caddyshack, Fletch and Vacation series meaning that his one-shot movies mostly fall by the wayside. Films like Spies Like Us, Nothing But Trouble and Funny Farm have went largely unseen since the advent of DVD in 1997. Neither of these movies have received widescreen releases and have been out of print for years. I was beginning to wonder what Warner had against giving them definitive releases until I discovered an HD master of Funny Farm on the PlayStation Network.I saw it only once, when I was about 9, and remembered very little. If you're a fan of Clark Griswold then Andy Farmer isn't too far removed. Andy is a sports journalist who retires from the big city to the Redbud, Vermont hoping to enjoy and idyllic, peaceful life and finally write the great, American novel (The Big Heist). When he gets there he and his wife discover that almost everyone and everything is weirder than the last. There are giant snakes in their pond, a dead body buried in their garden, a Sheriff who can't drive, a crazy mailman and a town who basically hate them. And top of all this Andy has severe writer's block while his wife manages to churn out a successful children's novel without really trying.With careful, measured direction from George Roy Hill (Butch Cassidy, The Sting) Funny Farm, based on a novel by Jay Cronley, manages to be a little classier than Chase's usual fare. This makes the lack of a home video version even more puzzling. It has never been released on DVD in the UK, and the 1989 VHS is long gone. If you have access to the PlayStation Network then go for it. I have a funny feeling that Funny Farm and Spies Like Us will probably be released as a Warner Blu Ray Double Feature in the near future, but nothing has been announced so far.Don't let the mistreatment of this film put you off, it lives up to it's title and is the perfect vehicle for Chevy Chase and his goofy humour.