Customer Reviews

How to Beat the High Cost of Living

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I can't believe this is finally coming to DVD!! I taped it a couple of years ago off of cable, have loved this movie since I saw it in a theater when I was 18.

I skim Amazon.com all the time, looking to see what's coming out on DVD, and nearly jumped out of my seat when I saw this - if you like "9 to 5" and movies like it, this is a gem! Susan St. James, Jessie Lange, and Jane Curtin play women desperate for money for one reason or another - St. James wants to get married to her boyfriend and become respectable; Lange needs the money to keep her from losing her shop, a business that's been steadily losing money that her husband bought for her but now has to get rid of or he's in tax trouble; and Curtin is a divorcee just trying to survive.

The three women, struggling to beat the high cost of living, come across a brilliant idea - their local mall is having a contest, a huge plastic ball in the center of the mall will be filled with money, and you have to figure how much is in it. What the ladies come up with is a plan to enter to ball from underneath, cut through it and use a vacuum cleaner hose to suck out a good chunk of the money out for themelves.

The planning and execution of this caper - using only what resources the ladies can muster up on their own (which includes getting the tools for their crime by stealing them from St. James's boyfriend's hardware store, in a hilarious scene where the kids come along for the ride because St. James's character couldn't get a babysitter) - does not exactly go smoothly.

Of course in this movie, as in "9 to 5" and others like it, the execution of the crime does NOT come off without its share of glitches. But wow, is it fun to watch, enjoyable and light entertainment that will put a smile on your face long after you've seen it, just thinking about your favorite scenes.

This is a fabulous, light comedy with a great all-star cast. This is something that deserved to be re-done on DVD. The plot concerns three women who live in Oregon. Jane Curtain is the wife of a wealthy architect. She comes home one day to fine he's run off with another woman, the bank accounts are cleaned out, and he's nowhere to be found. Bills are coming due. Jessica Lange is the wife of a wealthy veternarian played by Richard Benjamin. Her antique store is never profitable and now he has to sue her to please the IRS. She doesn't want to lose the store. Jill St. James is a divorcee with two kids and a deadbeat ex-husband. Her father then moves in with her when her mother takes up with another woman. She's pregnant with her boyfriend and they want to marry, but he has a no-future job, unless he can get the money to buy his boss' hardware store.

All three are friends and all three have something in common: they need money, and they need it now. After some failed schemes to get some, they decide to pull a heist at the local mall.

This is hysterical and tremendously funny. It's nothing deep or life changing, just a lot of intense, non-serious humor, great characters and great situations. Sure, there are some holes and a few scenes don't quite work, but this is something that ought to be in your permanent collection if you like comedies. It's a little dated, but has not lost any of its humor over the years. It's similar to "9 to 5" but I think funnier.

I remember seeing this in the theaters as a kid way back in 1980 (OK, now I officially feel OLD!)...anyway, this is a small, slight, yet hysterically funny and very smart comedy that somehow has fallen off the radar for most audiences - similar to Dolly, Jane, and Lily in "9 to 5," Jane, Jessica, and Susan make a terrific trio of would-be thieves trying to steal a load of cash from the "money ball" in a Pacific Northwest Mall. With cameos from Fred Willard, Eddie Albert, Richard Benjamin, and Dabney Coleman, the entire cast, the screenplay, the direction, and the tacky details of late 70s/early 80s middle-class America are all dead-on hilarious! If they can go ahead and ruin "Fun with Dick and Jane" by doing a remake, why hasn't anyone thought of remaking this underrated comedic gem? Seriously, if you love light, frothy, yet still-topical comedies, give HOW TO BEAT a whirl!

...The movie includes Jane Curtin, Susan St. James, and Jessica Lange who are feeling the crunch of the cost of living getting higher, while their paychecks stay the same. They notice a promotion at the mall which is holding Thousands of dollars and plan to steal the money. Very entertaining to watch how they plan to pull it off. The movie was first released in 1980, but you could easily remake the movie again today, as once again the high cost of living keeps on rising.

Although the details are dated, _How To Beat The High Co$t Of Living_ is freshly topical, with the economy in a bad way again. The three heroines' problems are, IMO, partly their own fault---but one has to root for their spunky, ingenious heist.

Jane Curtin improvising a striptease to cover her chums' getaway is a real highlight of the disc. She's game, sexy, and believable in her role---a really talented actress. And, for the record, the power is cut off only in _part_ of the mall, not the whole thing---I saw a review of the movie when it came out that didn't understand this point.

This movie is fun, different. I have liked since the very first time I saw it on HBO all those years ago. I haven't seen it in a long time and am thrilled to find it again. Total entertainment. Love this. Donna

Being from Eugene where this movie was filmed I really wanted to find a copy. Movie was in perfect condition, really quick to get it. Love it!

This is one of the most hilarous movies ever! Although it's about 30 years old, it really fits the times now too!

St. James, Lange, & Curtain co-star as 3 ladies who find themselves looking for a way to survive in the tough economic times of the late 1970's. Their solution? Steal a cash jackpot from a shopping mall's "guess how much money" contest. And, oh yeah, the money is being displayed for all to see in the center of the mall in a giant glass ball. (Insert comic hijinks here.) From their criminal practice runs to see if they really have the guts to commit a crime to their less than perfect attempts to get away with the cash, this movie is great fun. You'll find yourself rooting for these characters to steal the dough and make their getaway. There's not a lot of substance here but that's what makes it so enjoyable. Can't wait until my copy arrives!

This picture opened in theaters on August 21 1980 in New York City starring Susan Saint James as Jane, Jane Curtain as Elaine and Jessica Lange as Louise. Jane and Robert waking up in the back of Jane's station wagon. The reason there sleeping in the station wagon is the Jane's kids think that Robert is there Uncle and how do you explaining sleeping with the kids uncle. Jane states to Robert that she wants to talk to him about getting married. Robert replies that he can't get married until old man Willard dies and he gets the store. Meanwhile Louise shows up at here husbands veterinarian office looking for her husband. Louise and Albert have been married for nine years and she needs Albert to write her a check for one thousand dollars for the merchandise that she bought for here antique store. Meanwhile Jane has arrived at her home with bags of clothes that she bought and takes them upstairs to the bedroom. While she starts to undress, she turns on the answering machine where she hears a message from her husband. On the machine is her husband trying to explain to her that he's leaving her. Elaine goes to the closet to find his things gone so she smashes the machine and throws her wedding ring outside. Elaine goes to the bank and finds out that her husband beat her there, by cleaning out there account selling all her jewelry and leaving Elaine with just $480.00 dollars in her Christmas fund. The next day Albert is in his office with the IRS and after going over his books, Albert is told that the IRS owes him $11.19. However, the IRS wants to know about the 36,000 dollars that he gave Louise for her antique store. Albert states the antique store is a business but the IRS states that it's a hobby so now unless Albert can prove it's a business he will owe the IRS taxes on the $36,000 plus penalties. Meanwhile Jane's ex comes to pickup the kids and she hits him up for more child support in which her ex replies that he can't. Meanwhile after having a few drinks at the local tavern Elaine gets into car to leave. She pulls out crossing lanes and then goes right through a stop sign. Sitting at that stop sign is a police officer who turns his lights on and goes after her and finally pulling her over. Elaine is talking to the officer and finds out that he's married. So Elaine starts hitting the officer with her purse and the officers tells her that if she hits him once more he'll arrest her. She states that if he does the first phone call she makes will bee to his wife. Now some thoughts of my own on this movie. I love this movie because it caught my attention through the entire picture. I give Jane Curtin 6 stars because she wasn't bad in her movie debut. I thought that Jessica Lange was even better in her role as the doctor's wife. However, I bought this movie for two reasons. The first was Susan Saint James who looked great in jeans and everything else she wore. The second reason, Sybil Danning who was Albert receptionist and was excellent at it. Because of those two reasons, I give this movie 10 weasel stars.