Product Details

• Actors: Nicolas Cage, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Lerner, Margaret Colin, Dabney Coleman
• Directors: E. Max Frye
• Writers: E. Max Frye
• Producers: Gary Goetzman, Jack Cummins, Jonathan Demme, Marshall Persinger
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC
• Language: English, Spanish
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
• VHS Release Date: January 13, 1998
• Run Time: 96 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0792837711
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #319,750 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

From The New Yorker

Nicolas Cage is reason enough to see E. Max Frye's smartly constructed interracial-buddy comedy. Cage takes over the movie-snatches it clean away from the other principal performers, Samuel L. Jackson and Dabney Coleman, and the rest of the large and gifted cast. (In a few scenes, a beautiful and personable white German shepherd dog engages him in a fierce tug-of-war for the audience's attention, but Cage prevails.) The picture flirts with explosive subjects like race and class, but it has an oddly cozy, companionable tone. Frye, directing very cautiously and deliberately, doesn't do justice to his own script. About halfway through, a stubborn inconsequentiality sets in, and the movie loses urgency. At that point, the ingenious farce mechanics start to feel as if they were running on sheer inertia, because the satiric premise that set the whole thing in motion isn't driving it anymore. Also with Michael Lerner, Margaret Colin, Brad Dourif, Giancarlo Esposito, and (in a hilarious bit) Bob Balaban. -Terrence Rafferty
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nicolas Cage Does it Again, February 16, 2000

By 

Canary (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Amos & Andrew (DVD)

Ok, this film isn't one for the Academy Awards. But it is entertaining, and it has more truth to it than some of us might like to admit. Cage is funny as the hapless white convict, and Jackson is credible in his role as the successful black man who is viewed with suspicion in the mostly white world he's entered. The pace is not too slow, and in addition to making me smile, it also made me think a little. Maltin's use of the term "agonizing" should be reserved for movies like "Striptease" and "The Water Boy."

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Great Comedy that Almost Nobody Saw, May 30, 2005

By 

Donegal Dan (Southwest United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Amos & Andrew [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I don't know how it is that some very good movies get sidetracked when they are first released. This is one of them and it is well worth watching and owning, in my opinion. Of course, as a previous reviewer noted, it is NOT a re-do of the famous radio show and if you expect it to be, you will be very confused by it. No, this comedy is very much its own black-and-white story and a hilarious commentary on the prejudices and preconceived notions that are to be found even among the most supposedly enlightened of us. The whole comedy stems from erroneous assumptions made about a black man seen in an empty house in a posh NY community at night (he is, of course, the new owner). Both Samuel L. Jackson and Nicholas Cage (cast as a down-at-heels drifter pressed into service by the local sheriff) play their parts to perfection and Dabney Coleman and the cast of supporting characters are also excellent in their various roles as bumbling law dogs, neighbors, reporters, etc. In sum, I found this underrated film to be not only extremely funny but a wise and wry social commentary as well.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Very Entertaining Movie!!!!, April 17, 2004

By 

P. A. Tamblyn "Phill735" (Victoria Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Amos & Andrew (DVD)

I first viewed this movie when it first came out and loved it.I had forgotten all about it untill 2 weeks ago, when while looking on amazon, saw its listing. I ordered it straight away, and would have to say that this is a very entertaining movie. It has a very original story line, and is realy funny. This movie is a must see, rent or buy, you cant go wrong.