CRACKERS (1984) - Kino Lorber Blu-Ray Review
Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2020 1:19 pm
CRACKERS
5/10
Sometimes films just don't entirely click for one reason or another – witness CRACKERS (91 mins., 1984, PG), a wan Universal remake of the '60s Italian comedy “Big Deal on Madonna Street” that drew the involvement of director Louis Malle, who had just scored American art house hits with “Atlantic City” and “My Dinner With Andre.” Malle recruited a game cast to essay a group of struggling eccentrics (including Donald Sutherland and a then-very hot Sean Penn) who team up to knock over the safe of their friend, a local San Francisco pawn shop owner (Jack Warden).
Wallace Shawn and Christine Baranski also appear in “Crackers,” but this slender effort – dumped into limited release in the February doldrums of 1984 – never generates a comedic head of steam, all of it plastered with an aggressive '80s song-soundtrack featuring Michael McDonald belting out the film's theme song, “We Got More Than We Need.” Kino Lorber's BD offers a decent 1080p (1.85) transfer with mono sound, the trailer, and a new commentary with Daniel Kremer and Scott Tafoya.
Here's a "hilarious" teaser trailer --
5/10
Sometimes films just don't entirely click for one reason or another – witness CRACKERS (91 mins., 1984, PG), a wan Universal remake of the '60s Italian comedy “Big Deal on Madonna Street” that drew the involvement of director Louis Malle, who had just scored American art house hits with “Atlantic City” and “My Dinner With Andre.” Malle recruited a game cast to essay a group of struggling eccentrics (including Donald Sutherland and a then-very hot Sean Penn) who team up to knock over the safe of their friend, a local San Francisco pawn shop owner (Jack Warden).
Wallace Shawn and Christine Baranski also appear in “Crackers,” but this slender effort – dumped into limited release in the February doldrums of 1984 – never generates a comedic head of steam, all of it plastered with an aggressive '80s song-soundtrack featuring Michael McDonald belting out the film's theme song, “We Got More Than We Need.” Kino Lorber's BD offers a decent 1080p (1.85) transfer with mono sound, the trailer, and a new commentary with Daniel Kremer and Scott Tafoya.
Here's a "hilarious" teaser trailer --