Customer Reviews

Once Upon a Crime [VHS]

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I don't know why some people who review movies are so harsh! I LOVED this movie! I have seen it several times and finally found it in Guam on Video! It was just so silly, and such good fun, I recommend it to all my friends - and they have to admit it isn't Shakespear but it contains everything for a good family or fun night out for a movie night or video! Richard Lewis has all the angst needed for the plot, John Candy, (bless his soul!) Was excellent in his role as a recovered "gambler" led back to the casino tables by Jim Belushi! I liked the line that Hercules said to Cybil Sheppard "At the gaming tables, as in life, it takes courage to risk all!" Take a chance - see the movie and have some fun!!

I really liked this movie! Yes, it is a bit silly, but it is a movie for the whole family to enjoy! Plus, it is set in Monte Carlo with (the late)John Candy and a Dachshund! I also liked the music, and George Hamilton is a spanish gigolo playboy with a great tan. Also, the several sub-plots, especially with Cybil Sheppard, I thought was played very well. Oh, yes, don't forget the murder of the unseen Dachshund owner! Overall I really enjoyed it and have seen it several times.

An all star casts (James Belushi, Cybil Shepperd, Sean Young, George Hamilton, Ornella Mutti, Giancarlo Giannini, and the late John Candy) get mixed up in Monte Carlo because of a murder of a wealthy woman. It is mindless entertainment and pure fun. Too bad, it was a flopped when released in theatres almost 10 years ago. Watch this and you won't be sorry. You will want to have it in your collection as you can watch it again and again from time to time to have a great time. Now MGM please release this on DVD and include bloopers as I imagine will be plenty for this kind of movie. Excellent and funny. Brilliantly directed by Eugene Levy.

From the very first time i saw this film 8 years ago on cable at 3 in the morning,i've been hooked.I can't get enough of this film,and it's hard to explain why.It's definitely a guilty pleasure.Maybe it's John Candy's recovering compulsive gambler(which i feel is his funniest performance),or Jim belushi as an American tourist who aids in Candy's relapse.Or the the Dauchsund named Napolean who steals scenes as the most wanted dog in Europe,because of the reward that's being offered for his safe return,by his rich widowed owner Madame Van Dougen.Or George Hamilton as an aging(more like aged)playboy named Alphonso Delapena,who sleeps with rich married women in an attempt to get them to finance his gambling addiction.Cybill Sheppard plays Belushi's doormat for a wife,who gets her revenge with the help of a character named Hercules Popodopolous from Athens.Another subplot includes Richard Lewis as a struggling actor whose agent has just dumped him,and he teams up with Sean Young to return the dog to M.Van Dougen.When they try to return the little guy,they discover his owner has been murdered,and now all the characters are suspects because they're all connected by a train to Monte Carlo all of them were on in the beginning of the film.If you like your comedy light and harmless,then this one's for you.

Exactly a year ago on this day, Friday, March 13, 1998, I rented this movie from my video club and still can't forget some of the plotlines: like a dog leading to a European murder conspriacy! The jokes in this were really fun as well. I thought this was just an excellent comedy; however very sadly unknown by many Americans today. Rent or buy it today!

ONCE UPON A CRIME answered the question for me, "What is a comedy movie?" It is a movie that makes you laugh. The film is silly, has a contrived plot, uses stereotypes, is littered with cliches, and that's just for starters. Somehow, however, it makes you laugh a lot. That's comedy for me because I enjoy laughing. Candy and Belushi made me laugh at their gambling addictions. The French police made me laugh as they handled their rich American quarry. The film begins as a mystery of sorts. Forget about that end of the story. It is a comedy, not a mystery despite the hilarious suitcase full of body parts. Perhaps this hopelessly laughable movie is a new genre--mysterious comedy.

We love John Candy. My husband, three nineteen year old grandsons and I thought we had seen every movie he ever made. This one was new. Candy is wonderful, the movie is funny and seeing the actors so young is a kick. Foget the problems of the world, make some popcorn and enjoy.

If you have a funnybone at all, you will delight in the first hour of this movie. John Candy is good, but he is surrounded by better in this movie. Sean Young and Richard Lewis start the movie popping with their zany playing off each other, then Jim Belushi gives a histrionic tour de force, made funnier by Cybil Shepherd's absolutely perfect reactions; many beyond droll. She is comedic perfection. These five actors make the dumbest dialogue sound like it was crafted by Preston Sturges. The director keeps the rhythm cracking along and laughs piling up. The movie does fall off at last but you don't mind by then. This movie got one star in my local tv guide; go figure. If the last thirty minutes would have matched the first hour, this would be a comic classic.

It's right up there with The Ugly Dachshund & Mon Oncle Hulot for excellent doxie scene-stealing. Plus this has the extra premium of the lovely Sean Young. Yum.

I'll Be the first one to admidt that this film is not for everybody. I Myself Just Can't seem to get enough of it.I saw this film when it was first released and thought ok, but about half a hear or so ago I Was looking threw a Bargin Basket and decided to buy it for it's five dollar price tag. A few weeks later I finnaly Started watching it and it seemed like I had sleep through it when I first veiwed it several years earlier. I could not get enough of this all star cast, John Candy, Cybill Shepperd, John Belushi, And Richard Lewis. Be Sure to look for Eugene Leavy's Great Cameo. Altough I CATION you that if you don't enjoy these stars or SCTV.then you may think this is a crime.