Synopsis
Larry Donner, an author with a cruel ex-wife, teaches a writing workshop in which one of his students, Owen, is fed up with his domineering mother. When Owen watches a Hitchcock classic that seems to mirror his own life, he decides to put the movie's plot into action and offers to kill Larry's ex-wife, if Larry promises to murder his mom. Before Larry gets a chance to react to the plan, it seems that Owen has already set things in motion.
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Cast
- Danny DeVitoOwen / Ned 'Little Ned' Lift
- Billy CrystalLarry Donner
- Kim GreistBeth Ryan
- Anne RamseyMrs. Lift
- Kate MulgrewMargaret
- Branford MarsalisLester
- Rob ReinerJoel
- Bruce KirbyDeBenedetto
- Annie RossMrs. Hazeltine
- Oprah WinfreyHerself
Recommendations
- 90
The New York Times
As Owen, Mr. DeVito is such an odd combination of the childlike and the diabolical that he remains a captivating figure throughout the story. Mr. DeVito's comic timing is particularly enjoyable, since he has such a slow, steady, deliberate way of building up to outrageous behavior. - 90
Variety
A fun and delightfully venal comedy. Very clever and engaging from beginning to end. - 80
Los Angeles Times
Throw Momma is another Hitchcock pastiche or parody, but--taken from Stu Silver's coldly clever, verbally intricate script--it has more depth and humor than usual. - 60
Time Out
A lively black comedy, surprisingly stylishly directed by DeVito (his début), it thankfully soft-pedals on the hysteria front to concentrate on verbal non-sequiturs and quirky characterisation. If it all gets a little soft-centred towards the end, there's more than enough vitality and invention to be going on with. - 50
Chicago Sun-Times
The plot in Throw Mama from the Train is top-heavy, but the movie doesn't make as much as it could from its weird characters. - 50
TV Guide Magazine
A surprisingly assured directorial debut that is hampered only by a weak script. - 50
Chicago Tribune
A comedy with a curious tone of depressive whimsy. It manages, somehow, to be both aggressively cute and oppressively sordid. [11 Dec 1987, p.G] - 40
Empire
Always a spoof rather than a homage, this comedy soon realises there's only so many laughs you can plunder from the heavy premise and the repetitive carriages.
