Customer Reviews

Eat the Rich [VHS]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

**This review reveals minor details about the movie's plot.**

I bought this movie because Lemmy Kilmister from the British rock band Motorhead had a part in it. I didn't expect much but figured, "At least I get to see Lemmy act".

This movie is full of dark British humor and I didn't think I would get the jokes, but this movie me laughing so hard I cried.

The star of the film, Lanah (Allen) Pellay plays a black homosexual waiter who is fired from a restaurant, which happens to serve the extremely wealthy. His disdain for the affluent becomes apparent when he returns to the restaurant with his misfit band of revolutionaries to exact his revenge.

What is his revenge? Pellay and his 'friends' kill all the rich folk and grind them up in a meat grinder and feed them to other well to do customers.

Pretty gross I know, but the satire is so sharp and twisted that you hardly notice, well almost.

How was Lemmy's acting? Not too bad for a Rock god, but I see no leading man roles in his future. Another treat was a cameo by the other band members (circa 1986 lineup including Taylor and Clarke).

The movie score was 100% Motorhead (I'm not complaining).

Without giving too much of the movie away, I'll say that my absolute favorite part was the ending. Pellay does not get away with his crimes. He dies a martyr - in his eyes only - when he eventually dies. His death seen is long, dragged out and extremely hilarious.

Other cast members include Nosher Powell (who plays Nosh) and Fiona Richmond (who plays Fiona). Peter Richardson directed and appeared in this film as well.

Not suitable for children under 17.

While my memory of this film is dim, because it has been about 12 years since I last watched it, I have often thought about it during my unfortunate six year career as a foodservice employee. The first scene involves a fat, white rich woman who has (poor thing) dropped her fork on the floor of the posh restaurant. "Excuse me, waiter, I dropped my fork. May I have another?" to which the gay black waiter replies: "Get your own damn fork, you silly bitch!" After losing his job over this, he goes on a quest on a white horse (which I think he steals) arriving at a middle of nowhere house, knocks on the door, and asks the inhabitant, "Excuse me, but I am starting a Socialist Revolution. Would you care to join me?" With this new companion, he helps an abandoned single mother, staves off a facist potential prime minister, and gives back all the crap he used to put up with from the rich by taking over the restaurant he used to work for and serving up as dinner the former patrons. A "B-movie" to be sure, but great fun for those of us that are tired of being bossed around, yelled at, and abused by the oppressive, capitalist, and Denny's oriented society in which we live.

This sometimes very sharp, sometimes silly, comedy is certainly not a naive paean to socialism. It seems more a hopeless cry against human greed and stupidity, as realized in Britain's "Let greed do it all!" 1980s under Margaret Thatcher (not much different, we are assured by Republican historians, from the same period under Reagan.) Hopeless, because the 'revolution' started by Pellay's character has no chance whatsoever of changing government policies, let alone the nastiness of human beings whose only ideal is 'Capitalism.' The revolution in fact, is monitored from the first by some government 'Secret Service' that is generally very satisfied with the results -- the elimination of Nosher Powell's outspoken, no bull, Home Secretary, who might, accidentally, upset the establishment's apple cart. Aside from the fine feeling of temporary revenge against the nasty capitalists that it may foster, the film is notable for Nosher Powell's performance as a kind of honest but blind man of action, and for the final appearance (as his wife) of the wonderful Sandra Dorne, one of England's proletarian pinups of the 1950s (sexier than Diana Dors and a better actress, though less well marketed.) Sandra at 50 something, no longer young, no longer glamourous, showed that she could still deliver a fine (and very considered) comedy performance, just as she did in her heyday.

Yeah baby! This comedy is about a waiter who works at an exclusive restaurant that is frequented by the super rich and has on the menu any sort of endangered animal species for your culinary enjoyment (Panda steak anyone?) The waiter quits after having enough abuse and promptly organizes a socialist revolution of sorts in which the meat dishes contain fatty rich human carcass meat. Of course the patrons still think they are eating panda, tiger, hashbrowns and bacon strips, we love the way that they lick their lips. Sittin' down in a restaurant, tell the waiter just what you want, is that the meat, you wanted to eat? How would you ever know?

Pros: You get to see various stars of British comedy - Rik Mayall, Adrian Edmonson, Nigel Planer (aka the Young Ones), Jennifer "Ab Fab" Saunders and Dawn French et. al. all have cameos. As do folks like Koo Stark, Robbie "Hagrid" Coltrane, that guy from the Pogues with the rotting teeth, Lemmy from Motorhead, Paul McCartney, and aging Cockney Nosher Powell taking a break from stuntwork to do the leading man trip (which he does quite well).

The story sends up both sides of the political spectrum - showing the Bush-like neo-con "you're poor because you're all lazy bastards!" POV for what it is, savaging the blue-blood old money set but also at the same time making the socialists ridiculous (a revolution cause you got fired for being a waiter?) and basically funded by the Russians in a desperate bid to take over Britain.

In short, there's something to delight almost everyone here, and thankfully though there's a core group of actors moving the "plot" (and jokes) along, realistically speaking you're getting cameo after cameo. If he or she was around in England in the 80s, you'll see him or her there. Including the other members of Motorhead aside from Lemmy who take over as a backing band.

Cons: Anyone not really familiar with the British class system might not get some of the jokes and will CERTAINLY have problems with Nosher's mushmouthed Cockney accent. Ask a Brit to sit in for commentary if necessary.

But I mean, realistically speaking, this is not cerebral comedy. Even if you arrived from Mars last week and wouldn't know Thatcher from Chairman Mao, you'd still find something to chuckle at.

Did I mention Motorhead did the soundtrack? There's conflict at the end to a Lemmy track and it rocks. Plus - if you've ever wanted to see the Arab-Israeli conflict solved with a simultaneous double punch, this is your video.

I doubt most Americans will get this movie - it's really a European socialist comedy, and in the USA socialism is a dirty, misrepresented and misunderstood word.

If you've ever had to suffer at the hands of people who think they're better than you for any reason, you will love this film