Synopsis
Sportswriter Andy Farmer moves with his schoolteacher wife Elizabeth to the country in order to write a novel in relative seclusion. Of course, seclusion is the last thing the Farmers find in the small, eccentric town, where disaster awaits them at every turn.
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Cast
- Chevy ChaseAndy Farmer
- Madolyn Smith OsborneElizabeth Farmer
- Kevin O'MorrisonSheriff Ledbetter
- Joseph MaherMichael Sinclair
- Jack GilpinBud Culbertson
- Caris CorfmanBetsy Culbertson
- William SeversNewspaper Editor
- Mike StarrCrocker
- Glenn PlummerMickey
- William DuellOld Character
Recommendations
- 100
Chicago Tribune
The year`s funniest movie to date. - 88
Chicago Sun-Times
Funny Farm is kind of a loony, off-center comedy version of Hill's "The World According to Garp," another movie about strange people in bizarre situations. - 63
Chicago Tribune
Chevy Chase doesn't seem to have enough to do in "Funny Farm." He's a physical actor whose appeal can turn flat if he spends too much camera time sitting at a typewriter or working on his love relationship. Smith, as Elizabeth, is gorgeous and competent, but she lacks the comic verve of Beverly d'Angelo, Chase's memorable co-star in the National Lampoon series. This is a vehicle that does a lot for its supporting character actors and almost nothing for its stars. [3 June 1988, p.B] - 63
Miami Herald
Funny Farm adds up to enjoyable but uneven summer entertainment that seconds the Green Acres credo: "Farm livin' is the life for me." [3 June 1988, p.D5] - 60
Variety
Director George Roy Hill shows little distinction with this material [from Jay Cronley’s book], but then again, the material here isn’t very distinctive. Some of the setups work better than others, though most are of the sitcom variety. - 50
The New York Times
Funny Farm is good-natured even when it's not funny...As a comedy style, it has the impatience of a child who plants radish seeds and then pulls up the first tiny sprouts to see how they're doing. - 40
Los Angeles Times
Funny Farm --a weak-fish-out-of-water comedy about a New York City couple who see their rural paradise turned into a rustic hell--is a movie with a doubly deceptive title. This movie isn't about a farm, and it isn't very funny, either. - 40
Washington Post
The problem is that the director, George Roy Hill, tries to construct a real universe around Chase and his costar. And for a time he's able to give the comedy some snap. But after the couple settle in their new home and nightmare piles on nightmare, the picture deteriorates into a shtickfest and the sense of reality drags on the proceedings.
