Customer Reviews

Splitting Heirs [VHS]

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

 

 

You may not fall down on the floor laughing at this movie, but you undoubtly will have a smile on your face the whole time. Idle is a stock broker (or something financial like that, the exact job is sort of skipped over...)who was raised by a family of Hindus, and then finds he was adopted by them and he is the rightful heir to the dukedom belonging to his friend and boss Rick Moranis...The beautiful Barbara Hershey (a blonde here) is Idle's real mother, the even more beautiful Catherine Zeta-Jones is Moranis fiancee, (and Idle's one night stand..)in one of her early appearances... and John Cleese is the shifty lawyer who decides to help Idle regain his rightful heritage by killing everyone who stands in the way...(but why does the movie,in the opening credits say "introducing John Cleese"?) Fans of the Monty Python comedy troupe will enjoy it of course, but so will those of us who aren't major fans of theirs... As I said, not a hilarous movie, but one worth watching ....

It was a little dull at some parts but also exciting at others. The comedy's okay, has a nice ending. Catherine Zeta-Jones delivers, as usual!

Most British comedies can only be enjoyed after being drunk on Port. This one is hilarious. Many of the greatest comedy one-liners of all time is in this movie. Renting it, or better yet BUYING it, is a must.

I bought this from the cast list and it was worth the buy. Very funny and the great cast makes the movie fun to watch.

This is not a great movie, but it's a good movie. It's not the slapstick laugh riot I expected, but it did make me laugh. I give it four stars because I think Eric underplayed his character, and his performance came off a bit too laconic for my taste. You may have a different opinion. The story idea is funny: two babies abandoned at birth and mistakenly placed with the wrong families meet again purely by coincidence, and one spends much of the movie trying to do the other in, with (predictably) hilarious results. But it's hard to believe that Tommy and Henry are the same age--Eric is rather wrinkled for a supposedly 30-year-old man. And it's hard to believe that Tommy hasn't figured out he's not Pakistani. I think that was supposed to be funny, but it didn't work that way for me.

The good news is that it comes off nicely and is fun to watch. Eric's turn as Tommy's hippie dad in the beginning of the movie is great--he looks spot-on like Sonny Bono. Rick is a likeably quirky character, and the only honest one of the bunch. John Cleese is brilliant as the sleazy lawyer, Shadgrind. Barbara Hershey's turn as the nymphomaniac Duchess of Bournemouth is just subtle enough to be interesting and just over-the-top enough to be really funny. Catherine Zeta-Jones does a great job as Henry's gorgeous, gold-digging fiancee.

It all ends happily, though there's a lot of doubt right up till the last moments of the film. There's a Pythonesque tag at the end that's good for laughs. Enjoy!

The movie is great. Everything arrived in excellent condition. The only thing I thought strange was the movie does not have a DVD Root Menu, but that has nothing to do with the vendor. Great job guys.

O.k. First off, this is NOT a python movie. That's right out! So, trying to anticipate this as a Python film and not getting one is inevitably disappointing. With that said I thought the idea was funny, the film was funny, Barbara Hershey is gorgeous and only Catherine Zeta Jones is more enticing. This reminds me of the movie "The Grifters", where you get to see the young Annette Bening, before she destroyed her looks with nicotine. Catherine Zeta Jones is amazingly gorgeous here and worth seeing. Even nicer to see is Eric and John working together, like Michael Palin and John Cleese in "A Fish Called Wanda". I thought the movie was funny, I enjoy watching it again and if there was any let down, it was the rather flat delivery of Rick Moranis.

If you are, like I am, one of the many Python freaks, then you have to agree that Eric Idle is an amazing comedic genius. However, he seems to have fallen in this. I've read enough of Eric's material to know that he is capable of great things and this, unfortunatly, is not one of them. The plot is clever, the characters are (for the most part) sympathetic and original, but there is a lot missing here. If you are like me and would sit through anything to catch a glimpse of Eric Idle's bum, then this is great. If you have no previous Python knowlege then you may want to skip over it. The idea may have looked great on paper, but sorry Eric honey, it doesn't carry itself well on-screen.

Eric Idle is the total god!I feel a radiance in his everlasting light.John Cleese was a surprise and was very good as Shadgrind. I myself am a TOTAL MONTY PYTHON LOONEY!I love this movie,espically w/ Eric as the main charcter.mmmmmmmmmmm...gotta love him! I recommend this movie to people that love comedy,Monty Python or even British humor. In fact,I recommend all Pythonic movies,such as Holy Grail,Life of Brian,Meaning of Life,The Rutles,And now for something completely different....,Nuns on the run,this movie,The Rocky Horror Picture Show,Nosferatu(1922),all of the Hellraiser,Freddy Krueger,Texas Chainsaw Massacre,and Poltergeist. Please take my recommendation on all of these movies and remember, ALWAYS LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF YOUR LIFE! Instant message myself or email me if you would like to talk with me...ANYTIME! at dlsmayer or jenny-seemayer@juno.com

Of the many poor films I've sat through because Barbara Hershey was in them, this is among the lamest and most forgettable. (Props to Ms. H. for having the good humor to tweak her outgrown hippie persona.) Unless you're as fond of that actress as I am, are curious to see what the pre-fame Zeta Jones was like, or a foamingly rabid Python fan, there is nothing here for you. Move on.