1982
Comedy/Sex comedy ‧ 1h 46m
Chuck (Henry Winkler) has given up life as a stockbroker because it was too stressful. Now, he works an easy gig as a night shift attendant at a New York City morgue. His co-worker, Bill Blazejowski (Michael Keaton), on the other hand, is always looking to make a quick buck. When Bill finds out that Chuck’s prostitute neighbor, Belinda (Shelley Long), needs a place to do her work, he convinces Chuck to turn the morgue into a brothel where they can work as her pimps.
Release date: July 30, 1982 (USA)
Director: Ron Howard
Screenplay: Babaloo Mandel, Lowell Ganz
Music composed by: Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager, David Foster
(NYT) This Ron Howard comedy takes the mantra “Do what you love” to some zany and enterprising places. The high-concept idea is a slam dunk (two guys run a prostitution ring out of a morgue), but its stars, Henry Winkler and Michael Keaton, bring so much charm to their odd-couple roles that they move them beyond cliché. While the movie has plenty of ’80s sex comedy silliness (and songs by Burt Bacharach), its pimps (or “love brokers,” as Keaton’s character calls them) take a respectful career-style approach to sex work, seeing that their employees get health and dental insurance, while also giving them an ownership stake in a fast-food restaurant. A 401(k) may not be far behind. MEKADO MURPHY
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