Real Men (1987)

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

CIA Agent Pillbox (John Ritter) is killed before he is scheduled to meet space aliens. Nick Pirandello (James Belushi) is a hard-charging super-agent. He is assigned to recruit doppleganger mild-mannered family man Bob Wilson (John Ritter) for the meeting. It's to save the planet from a chemical released by the military in exchange for a glass of water. The Russians are trying to stop them. Others in their agency want a Big Gun which could destroy a planet to use against the Russians.This is a strange little attempt at a spy action spoof. It doesn't really start out that way although Belushi as a super-agent could be taken that way. The strange concepts keep building up. It's not terribly funny but it is weirdly interesting. It does have Ritter and Belushi. Dennis Feldman doesn't seem to be that funny in his output. He's certainly not known as a director. This strange idea could work especially with these two comedic actors if the script is much funnier.

Let it be known that I'm a huge fan of madcap, underrated comedy like Hudson Hawk, Wild Hogs, Last Action Hero, etc. For me, the secret to humor is surprise and I saw literally all but two of the gags coming well before they were executed -- badly. For those two times, and the subsequent laughs they gave me, I give this film two stars. :-)As far as the plot goes, it was equally predictable. Normally, I do not mind that in this kind of movie. After all, it's supposed to be about kicks and giggles, not about telling an interesting story. But, without the requisite giggles, I found it nearly unwatchable. Belushi was absolutely impossible to like, and his chemistry with John Ritter was virtually nonexistent. Do yourself a favor, and avoid this film.

James Belushi and John Ritter star in this 1987 action-comedy. A CIA agent, Nick (Belushi) is sent on a dangerous mission to work with insurance agent, Bob (Ritter) who looks exactly like an agent that was killed. They have to get to Washington D.C. by Friday for an exchange with UFOs. They have a map guiding them and a glass to fill with water for the space men. Along the way they meet weird women, face Russian agents and other agents dressed as clowns. Nick and Bob get off on a bit of a rough start, but become friends who work well with each other. I've always liked this film and James and John were great together. I recommend this good 80's action-comedy.

I am not sure this movie made it to the theaters or not back in the day, I only know it used to come on quite often on HBO and I would usually watch it when it did come on. It was not super great or anything, but it was a rather funny comedy that passed the time quite nicely. The story has a man that is an everyday kind of fellow, thrust into the middle of a very strange government plot involving aliens and spies. The reason he is thrust into this role is that he looks like the man that was supposed to receive a package from aliens, and he is the only one they would apparently give it to. That man is shot at the beginning of the film, thus this replacement is recruited against his will. A super type spy is sent in to use him to get the package from the aliens and he is also told to encourage the guy and make him feel he is doing great. There are chases and stuff like that, attacks of clowns and during the course of the film the bumbling everyman does get good. He is played by the late John Ritter, and though I am not really much of a fan of his, he does a particularly good job as the everyman being a bit of a unwilling participant at first, but getting better as time goes on. Jim Belushi plays the super spy, he does not look the part, but he does an okay job with the role. I am not going to blame him for being cast in a role more fitting for someone more polished looking. As for the rest of the cast, a treasure trove of virtual unknown stars, thankfully though the movie focuses on Ritter and Belushi's characters and the carry the film quite well.