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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"If I were you, I'd get used to public transportation.", July 25, 2005
John Murray...probably the least known of all the Murray brothers (all four of which appeared in the 1988 film Scrooged)...of course everyone knows Bill (Caddyshack, Stripes, What About Bob?), and many are probably familiar with brother Brian Doyle-Murray (Caddyshack, Christmas Vacation, "Get a Life"), and then there's Joel (One Crazy Summer, "Dharma & Greg"), but what about John? He's least active in terms of a lengthy film career, and in the one film he actually starred in, he got crowded out of the spotlight by a an 80 year old woman named Nedra Volz...oh, I thought he was funny alright, but Ms. Volz tended to steal the show. Co-written and directed by Neal Israel (Police Academy, Bachelor Party, Real Genius), the film stars the aforementioned John Murray (Scrooged) and James Keach (Cannonball, The Long Riders). Also appearing in this ensemble cast is Jennifer Tilly (Bride of Chucky, Monsters, Inc.), Brian Backer (Fast Times at Ridgemont High), Ned Eisenberg (Million Dollar Baby), Wendie Jo Sperber (Bachelor Party, Back to the Future), Fred Willard (A Mighty Wind), Sally Kellerman (Back to School), Robert Conrad ("The Wild Wild West"), Nedra Volz (Lust in the Dust), and flash in the pan Clara Peller, best know as the old woman constantly looking for the beef in a series of Wendy's commercials from the 80s...one can't help but wonder is she ever found that much sought after beef...actually, she did, appearing in a spaghetti sauce commercial claiming to have found it, which ultimately caused her gig as the Wendy's `Where's the beef?' spokesperson to be cut short...apparently they didn't like someone piggybacking off their wildly successful ad campaign.
As the film begins we see various individuals, including wise cracking Dana Cannon (Murray), stopped for traffic violations. After going to court, presided over by Judge Nedra Henderson (Kellerman), the group is ordered to attend traffic school and pass the course, or their driving privileges will be permanently revoked, and their impounded vehicles sold with the proceeds going to the county. Turns out the traffic school is being taught by the incredibly uptight Deputy Halik (Keach), who was in line for a promotion, but has since been demoted, blaming his current state of affairs squarely on Dana (you'll have to see the film for all the details), and now seeks revenge (Dana's livelihood depends on making deliveries in his truck). Anyway, turns out the judge has a plan to make some money, one which she needs the aid of Deputy Halik in that if the students fail, the judge and himself will scam half the proceeds of the money made from the sale of their impounded vehicles, so Halik, in turn makes the test impossible, and all end up failing. The students catch wind of the scheme, set out to even the score, the result being an incredibly silly and stupid fun, but one that's also a lot of fun.
If you enjoyed the original Police Academy film (not so much the progressively worse sequels), then you probably enjoy this film. The set up is about the same in that of a group of loser types struggling against a evil archetype who holds their future in his/her hands, deliberately driving them towards failure, that is until the loser group pulls it together, overcoming adversity, and saving the day...or something like that...Murray is pretty funny doing his best impersonation of his brother Bill's smarmy, wisecracking character probably most apparent in his 1981 film Stripes...seriously, the two are so similar the only difference is brother Bill came along with the act first, so it seems like he's just trying to ape someone else's success with a preconceived characterization. As far as Ms. Tilly (playing the ditzy rocket scientist), I'm glad she had as few lines as she did, as I generally find her shrilly voice to be fairly annoying, reminding me much of that of a squeaky toy. The best scenes, in my opinion, involve Nedra Volz as sort of a Mr. Magoo-ish character, hampered by poor eyesight...there's one scene where the group uses her as a lookout, and upon their return, they ask her if she's seen anybody, to which she replies `I don't know.' (It's much funnier on the screen). Another funny scene is when they're commiserating as a group (followed by an 'it's not over till it's over!' speech delivered by Murray's character, reminiscent of the one John Belushi's character gave in the 1978 film Animal House, only not as good) after they've learned they all failed their driving tests, and a drunken Mrs. Houk begins throwing out suggestions as to what they should do with Deputy Halik, specifically relating to his private parts (nothing like an inebriated old woman yelling for the emasculation of her enemy). The funniest scene, in my opinion, occurs when Mrs. Houk has to retrieve some evidence from Judge Henderson's home (because she was the only one who would fit through the open window), and she has to sneak into the bedroom where the Judge and Deputy Halik are involved in a copulatory moment on the bed. Mrs. Houk trips, ending up on the bed with them, and the couple don't even notice her presence as she's rolling around on top of them...again, this is a scene that must be seen to fully appreciate the humor. I thought Keach did very well playing the semi-psychotic heavy (with twitching eye and all). Overall the story is very silly, and the comedy doesn't always work, but enough of it does to the point where it was able to carry the rest of the film well.
Anchor Bay Entertainment provides a clean and clear widescreen (1.85:1) picture, along with a choice in terms of audio in either Dolby Digital 5.1 or Dolby Digital Surround 2.0. Special features include an original theatrical trailer, audio commentary with director Neal Israel, and an insert booklet called `The Official Moving Violations Driver's Handbook', which has a good deal of photos from the film, along with a lot of comical material. Also included are previews for other Anchor Bay releases like License to Drive (1988), Freaked (1993), and Modern Problems (1981).
Cookieman108
By the way, this film also marks the very first big screen appearance of Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda) manning the drive up window at Juicy Burgers...
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Moving Violations a Very Moving Comedy!, June 13, 2002
A movie notable to me and our family personally because a distant relative (an uncle) ended up being cast as an extra in one of the classroom or courtroom scenes of the film. We never found out about it until the movie came out on cable a couple of years later and we happen to see him in the scene. He's the asian guy with glasses sitting next to John Murray's character (Dana Cannon) when all the other characters in the film are being sentenced to traffic school. They actually exchange glances with each other when Murray is rattling on with one of his smart remarks during the scene. Otherwise, MOVING VIOLATIONS aims for a low brow audience and delivers. A simple and funny plot where various people with multiple traffic violations are sentenced to traffic school and have their vehicles impounded until they pass traffic school. They then band together when they uncover a scam by the police officer (James Keach) giving the traffic school course, to sell the impounded vehicles. They have to stop and expose his plot to the authorities. John Murray's character is a rehash of all characters of the more famous and older sibling Bill, from his previous work in SNL, STRIPES and GHOSTBUSTERS. However, because he is a "Murray" it is to be expected and his character is pretty funny as the as the [truck driver]. Good supporting cast from Jennifer Tilly, Fred Willard, Wendi Jo Sperber, Sally Kellerman, the "WHERE'S THE BEEF?" elderly lady from the old Wendy's commercials, and Robert "THE WILD,WILD,WEST" Conrad. Also, look for actor John Cheadle (BOOGIE NIGHTS, TRAFFIC,OCEAN'S ELEVEN) in a small role as a fast food drive-in window attendant. Note: Classic line: "When the going get's tough, the tough get's goin'...in the pants!"
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An underappreciated gem., August 4, 2005
This classic puts the new "Dukes of Hazzard" movie to shame, and is on a par with the Marx Brothers, and other comedy greats. Its too bad that this movie isn't very well known, but finally gets the DVD treatment. The wit, the slapstick, the humor all flows naturally. John Murray is so amazing that you don't care that he's in his brother's shadow (although he would have been great if he could have been Steve Zissou's brother) yes, this one is much more worthy of my elite radar.
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