Search - Throw Momma From the Train on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG-13 Content Advisory: Mild Violence, Adult Situations, Questionable for Children, Adult Language Movie Release: 1987 DVD Release: 05/31/2005 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: English, French, Spanish Subtitles: English, French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 28 mins Studio: MGM Total Copies: 2 Genres: Comedy, Black Comedy, Crime Comedy See Also: Throw Momma From the Train

The "exchange murders" plot gambit, played with utter solemnity in Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train, is used as the launching pad for raucous laughter in Throw Momma From the Train. Director/star Danny DeVito plays Owen Lift, a middle-aged bachelor, totally dominated by his gorgon mother, played with hilarious ferocity by Anne Ramsey. Billy Crystal co-stars as Larry Donner, a creative-writing professor, saddled with a vituperative, thoroughly despicable ex-wife, Margaret (Kate Mulgrew). Signing up for Larry's writing course, Owen has trouble at first with character development and construction in his stories. Larry recommends that Owen watch a screening of Strangers on a Train, which he considered a model of tight, concise storytelling. Owen is so entranced by the film that he decides to emulate Strangers star Robert Walker. That is, Owen wants Larry to bump off his mother, in exchange for Owen's murder of Margaret. Without being asked, Owen does away with Margaret (or so it seems), then hounds Larry to the point of killing "Momma." This being a comedy, the actual consequences of the swap-murder plot aren't nearly as calamitous as in the Hitchcock film. Cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld would apply the "black humor" lessons learned in Throw Momma From the Train for his own directorial debut, The Addams Family (1991). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Danny DeVito - Owen Lift
Billy Crystal - Larry Donner
Anne Ramsey - Momma
Kim Greist - Beth
Kate Mulgrew - Margaret, Larry's Ex-Wife

Throw Momma From the Train gets re-released on DVD with this edition from MGM Home Entertainment. Carried over from the previous release is the 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen picture and the English and French Dolby Digital Stereo tracks, along with the collection of four deleted scenes and the original theatrical trailer. While the thought of the cut scenes might be tantalizing, the scenes themselves are anything but. You get a few throwaway moments with Danny DeVito stalking Billy Crystal, while another part finds Crystal doing an uneven comedy bit that nearly demanded the cutting room floor's attention. Those who already own the previous 2001 disc need not upgrade to this one, while the rest of the film's fans should be happy to own the film in a nice presentation with some extra tidbits thrown in. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide