Big Business

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYWlAiFypwo

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PG ‧ 1988 ‧ Comedy ‧ 1h 37min

Two couples of sisters from New York and from the countryside discover that they are connected in an incredible way.

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ABOUT

Big Business is a 1988 American comedy film starring Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin, each playing two roles, as sets of identical twins mismatched at birth. The nature versus nurture farce adapts The Comedy of Errors, but with female siblings in contemporary society: one of each twin being reared in a wealthy urban setting, while the others grew up in a poor rural environment.

Produced by Touchstone Pictures, the film co-stars Fred Ward, Edward Herrmann, Joe Grifasi, and Seth Green, as well as siblings Michael Gross and Mary Gross. Directed by Jim Abrahams, critical reaction to the film as a whole was generally lukewarm. Both Midler and Tomlin were nominated for the American Comedy Award for Funniest Actress in a Motion Picture for their performances with Midler winning.

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CREDITS

Director

Jim Abrahams

Writer

Dori Pierson, Marc Reid Rubel

Stars

Bette Midler, Lily Tomlin, Fred Ward

Companies

Touchstone Pictures, Silver Screen Partners III

DETAILS

Released

1988-06-10

Runtime

1h 37min

Rating

Genres

Comedy

CONTEXT

Countries

USA

Languages

English, Italian

Awards

Awards, 1 win & 1 nomination

Keywords

switched at birth,neo screwball comedy,f rated,strong female character,strong female lead

CAST

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PHOTO GALLERY

RATINGS

6.4/10

53%

6.3/10

52%

4.9/10

CRITICS REVIEWS

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The New York TimesVincent Canby
“Big Business, which, though it never quite delivers the boffo payoff, is a most cheerful, very breezy summer farce, played to the hilt by two splendidly comic performers.”

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Los Angeles TimesSheila Benson
“Like a sensational party the night before, Big Business may not bear the closest scrutiny in the cold light of day, but it gives an irresistible glow at the time. And when it gets on a roll, it's a movie with more wit to its lines and a more pungent array of them than much of the mishmash that has passed as Bette Midler's Greatest Movie Hits. (10 Jun 1988, p.1)”

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Time OutNo Title
“Midler gets to play her vulgar, trashy self twice over, Tomlin introduces a little comic variety as the gutsy blue collar worker and the drippy sister, and Abrahams handles the mechanical plot with skill, if not style. The frenetic fun reduces everyone to a cipher; it's difficult to care about any of them.”

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Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
“If there’s anything worse than a long, slow, boring buildup to a payoff, it’s the buildup without the payoff. This movie doesn’t feel finished.”

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Washington PostRita Kempley
“This classic comedy of errors is over-structured by cousin-writers Dori Pierson and Marc Rubel and mechanically laid out by director Jim Abrahams.”

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Chicago TribuneDave Kehr
“It's too smoothly controlled to be funny, which is Big Business's problem as a whole. (10 Jun 1988, p.A)”

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Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
“Some scenes in a Manhattan hotel have the amiable ring of old-fashioned farce to them, but most of the going is noisy and obvious. (10 Jun 1988, p.21)”

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EmpireWilliam Thomas
“Ultimately lost in it's own contrivances, Big Business still manages a few laughs thanks to it's big name leading lady.”

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Unknown SourceVariety
“A shrill, unattractive comedy.”

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TV Guide MagazineNo Title
“Director Abrahams, working on his own for the first time, has some problems with pacing and with sustaining an essentially one-joke premise that never arrives at its big payoff.”