An endless list, really, as in most any year many if not most of my favorites tend to be those that don't connect with the mainstream, for whatever reason. But taking indie and foreign language pictures out of the running as it's only surprising when they
do make waves at the box office, some of the fare that was targeted for mainstream consumption but was misunderstood, ignored, neglected and failed to make even a respectable showing with the ticket-buying public at large, I'd highlight a few favorites such as...
QUICK CHANGE
1990 - Franklin & Murray
For my money one of the most underrated comedies of the past twenty years, a deadpan but often hysterical and farcical take on
Dog Day Afternoon headlined by Bill Murray and populated with an amazing array of supporting players from Geena Davis and Randy Quaid to Jason Robards and Bob Elliott, Phil Hartman and Jamey Sheridan, Stanley Tucci and Victor Argo, Philip Bosco and Kurtwood Smith and a film-stealing bit by Tony Shalhoub as a NYC cab driver who speaks literally no English.
Released in the summer of 1990 which was dominated domestic boxoffice-wise by Arnie in
Total Recall ($119-million), Bruce Willis in
Die Hard 2 ($117-million), and especially Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze in
Ghost ($217-million),
Quick Change only managed a paltry $15-million as it quickly disappeared from cinemas. Probably seemed like a good candidate for summer release at the time, but in retrospect might have fared better in the Fall not competing against the biggest movies of the year.
LET IT RIDE
1989 - Joe Pytka
Delightful Damon Runyonesquse race track comedy starring Richard Dreyfuss with another perfect supporting cast including Teri Garr, Jennifer Tilly, David Johansen, Allen Garfield, Michelle Phillips, Richard Edson, Cynthia Nixon and Robbie Coltrane who steals every scene he's in as a cheerfully skeptical ticket seller at the track windows.
It was released in August, but still
Let it Ride didn't even make it to $5-million in U.S. box office. The summer of 1989 was awash in mega-blockbusters with the phenomenon of Tim Burton's
Batman leading the way ($251-million) and a slew of high-profile sequels including
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade ($197-million),
Lethal Weapon 2 ($147-million),
Back to the Future Part II ($118-million) and even
Ghostbusters II ($112-million). The biggest hit, non-sequel comedy wise, was Ron Howard's
Parenthood ($100-million). A little movie like
Let it Ride simply got lost in the shuffle. I think it has grown a respectable cult appreciation on home video and TV, but I absolutely loved it, saw it twice in as many days, and thought it deserved a much better fate in terms of ticket sales. Damn funny flick and a boxoffice bust.
DEAD MEN DON'T WEAR PLAID
1982 - Carl Reiner
Another underrated comedy, this one may have been a bit too clever and ahead of its time for its own good. Steve Martin and Carl Reiner's follow-up to Steve's starmaking movie
The Jerk, it slots Martin into a '40s detective Noir pardoy that ingeniously has him interacting with the likes of Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, Jimmy Cagney, Ava Gardner, Burt Lancaster, Ingrid Bergman and a dozen others within film clips from such classic movies as
Double Indemnity, Notorious, White Heat, The Postman Always Rings Twice and
This Gun for Hire. This is done without the advances of today's computer technology that can have Fred Astaire dancing with vacuum cleaners but instead painstakingly matches wardrobe and lighting as well as character names and plot specifics to have Martin and his heavenly co-star Rachel Ward do some cinematic time traveling. Perhaps in the early days of the home video boom and a target audience that was probably too young to know many if any of the clips it had no real chance. But it's some kind of demented genius and a joy for film buffs.
On the strength of Martin's star alone it did manage a decent $18-million in the summer of 1982, but the transcendence of an all-ages phenomenon of Spielberg's
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ($360-million!), the crowd-pleasing of
Rocky III ($124-million), and Mr. Spock's temporary passing in
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan ($79-million) were the movies that captured the most ticket dollars. Even
Blade Runner, which got some truly lousy reviews and underperformed considering its status among cinephiles and rabid devotees today, even it still managed to make nearly $28-million. I'd like to think that in today's climate where everything from cable networks and Netflix to online streaming makes so much of our cinematic heritage accessible that perhaps
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid might have a better chance at finding a mainstream audience. But more likely it was destined to fill a clever but small niche. I loves it to pieces.
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