Brewster's Millions (1985)

"Monty pitches and I catch. The money won't change us."

Director

Walter Hill

Cast
Richard Pryor - Montgomery Brewster

John Candy - Spike Nolan

Stephen Collins - Warren Cox
Lonette McKee - Angela Drake

Pat Hingle - Edward Roundfiel
Jerry Orbach - Charlie Pegler
Jerome Dempsey - Norris Baxter
David White - George Granville
Hume Cronyn - Rupert Horn

With all the reboots, remakes, and long, long, long awaited sequels hitting theaters the last 15 years, audiences generally think this a result of a creativity shortage in Hollywood. Maybe that's true to a large degree, but there's a lot of writers out there, and there's a lot of sublime and excellence movies coming out that don't often get the same attention as the more anticipated movies do. 

As far as all the remakes and reboots, my normal retort is that these movies are as old as the movie industry itself. There's a lot of classic and well-beloved movies that are remakes of earlier films. "The Wizard of Oz" from 1939 comes directly to mind. 

The 1985 comedy, "Brewster's Millions" with Richard Pryor and John Candy is a perfect example of how movie remakes are nothing new in Hollywood. 

I knew about this movie for decades, but I've never watched it until a few nights ago for a movie night with my wife. She somehow earned a code from Roku and was able to pick a free movie to download on the "My Movies" app. So, this is was the most appealing from the movies we could choose from.

I wanted to get to "Brewster's Millions" while I've been on a John Candy movie binge lately, as I've mentioned in my previous John Candy movie reviews. 

In this movie, Richard Pryor plays Montgomery 'Monty' Brewster who pitches for the minor league team, the  Hackensack Bulls.

He's pals with the Bulls catcher, Spike Nolan (John Candy). After a post-game stop at the local bar, the two get into a big bar brawl and wind up in jail.
They're visited by a stranger named J. B. Donaldo who offers to cover their bail, but they have to plead guilty. 

Once they're out of the slammer, he takes them back to the law firm of Granville & Baxter out in Manhattan. There, Monty is tossed into a meeting with an executor, Edward Roundfield. 

Much to Brewster's shock and surprise, his great-uncle Rupert Horn (Hume Cronyn) suddenly died. Monty didn't even know he had a great-uncle Rupert. What's more shocking is that Rupert is an insanely rich white dude...or, was an insanely rich white dude. And what's even more shocking is that Monty is his only living relative. So, upon Rupert's death, there's no one to inherit his $300 million fortune except Monty. 

Richard Pryor as Monty Brewster in "Brewster's Millions."

However, he's not going to get that fortune without a little catch. He's got two choices. Monty can either take $1 million right away. The law firm would then become the lawful executor of great-uncle Rupert's estate and will collect a service fee, while the rest of the millions will be given to charity. 

Or, he can have $30 million upfront and spend every cent of it within 30 days. 

If he picks the second option, the catch is that despite all the required spending, when the 30 days is up, Brewster cannot own any assets other than what he doesn't already own. If he hires anybody and uses part of the $30 million to pay them, he has to utilize the services he hires them for. 

Brewster cannot destroy or damage any of the items he might purchase. He's permitted to give five percent away to charity, and he can only gamble another five percent. In other words, he can't just give the millions away, nor can he squander all of it on gambling. 

Finally, he cannot tell anyone about this challenge. Not even Spike. If he can spend the entire amount and stick to the rules, he'll inherit the entire $300 million. If he fails, he forfeits all of it and gets nothing. 

Brewster picks the $300 million and doesn't waste a minute in spending his millions. 

Though "Brewster's Millions" has an original feel to it, it's obviously not an original story as I mentioned. 

It's based on the 1902 novel written by George Barr McCutcheon. It was also a Broadway production in 1906 starring Edward Abeles.

The earliest movie based on McCutcheon's book is the 1914 silent comedy movie of the same name directed by none other than Cecil B. DeMille along with Oscar Apfel.

In 1921, another silent movie adaptation, also called "Brewster's Millions," was released. It stars the legendary Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. 

Over in the U.K., they made their own movie based on the novel in 1935 also called "Brewster's Millions." Their version is a musical comedy directed by Thornton Freeland

Back in the U.S., another remake, again called "Brewster's Millions," was released in 1945 and stars Dennis O'Keefe. And that takes us to the 1985 comedy. 

Richard Pryor, Rick Moranis, and John Candy.

There's a buddy chemistry between Richard Pryor and John Candy. It's unfortunate these two comedians didn't do more movies together.

For a movie starring two of the best comedians in the industry, there's not enough comedy in "Brewster's Millions." In other words, their collective comedic talent isn't used to the fullest extent. Candy and Pryor work well with what their given. But there's so much more room in the premise for more comedy from these guys. And with that buddy chemistry I mentioned, "Brewster's Millions" could have been a decent starting-off point for some more comedies from these guys. 

That's not to say the movie doesn't earn some laughs. There's even a cameo from Rick Moranis.   

Otherwise, "Brewster's Millions" is a story which I can't really compare to any other story though there's a lot of movies about regular people who suddenly strike it rich through some out-of-the-ordinary circumstance, or through a million-to-one stroke of amazing luck. But adding the element of the protagonist being required to spend millions to get millions makes an intriguing and unique comedy.

I previously reviewed the film "Waking Ned Devine" about a jackpot lottery win in a small Irish village. Also the 1954 British comedy, "The Million Pound Note" starring Gregory Peck and based off a story by Mark Twain, led to the 1983 comedy "Trading Places" with Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd. Both are about sudden wealth with main characters who are like fishes out of the water with their fortune. 

In 1979, the "MAD Magazine Board Game" was introduced. In this game, each player starts off with $10,000. And in true MAD Magazine form, satirizing "Monopoly," each player rushes around the board trying to lose all their money. The first loser is the winner. That's the closest thing I can compare the movie to. 

Despite how much more humor from Candy and Pryor that could have been used, the movie is still a fun, fast yet well paced story. Not to mention the moral of the story that money really isn't everything. It's more of a burden than it is a blessing. 

Even so, I can't think of another movie or story that makes its audience want to be in the protagonists spot any more than "Brewster's Millions."