OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE (Touchstone, 1987) Buena Vista Home Video

Bette Midler’s mid-eighties’ resurrection as a lovably crass and curmudgeonly sexpot, slightly gone to seed was assured in Arthur Hiller’s Outrageous Fortune (1987), a deliciously absurd comedy that pits Midler’s inimitable disregard for the niceties against the reigning queen of cordiality, Shelley Long.  While certain movies are anchored in plot, or even great characterizations, Outrageous Fortune works, not so much because Midler and Long are ‘in character’ but because each is a ‘character’ in their own right. First, to Midler, born in Honolulu, she knew more than what she spoke of, having risen through the ranks the hard way, singing in the gay bathhouses of the Ansonia Hotel in the mid-1970’s and plying her affinity for ‘blue humor’ in an attempt to make it more mainstream to the public at large. There was, in fact, nothing about her inauspicious start that should have made Midler marketable to the masses. And yet, this is precisely where her fan-base began to formulate. A chance meeting with Barry Manilow led to his producing the comedy album, The Divine Miss M (1972) – the first of fourteen. Just before this, Midler had broken through to popular appeal in Seattle’s stage revival of Tommy (1971), a performance that earned her an invitation to appear on The Tonight Show. Incidentally, Johnny Carson became one of Midler’s life-long admirers; she, assuming the hallowed spot to close out Carson’s reign as the irrefutable ‘king of late night’ in 1992. The 70’s were a particularly fruitful period for Midler, culminating with an Oscar-nod for her heart-shattering performance in The Rose (1979). Despite her tireless talent and hard work, Midler’s career began to suffer from rising damp after 1980’s Divine Madness – a documented account of her world tour live concert, filmed in Pasadena. If not for her diligence, and a bit of good timing and great success in Paul Mazursky’s Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986), Midler’s career might have died on the vine that same year. Instead, the runaway success of Mazursky’s crass comedy paved the way for a long-term contract with Touchstone Pictures – an offshoot of the Walt Disney Co., eager to capitalize on producing movies for the adult market: Ruthless People (1986), Outrageous Fortune (1987), and Big Business (1988) following in rapid succession.

Comparatively, Shelley Long’s was the more seasoned tenure when Outrageous Fortune hit theaters in the summer of ‘87. Like her fictional character in Outrageous Fortune, the Fort Wayne, Indiana-born Long studied drama professionally before joining the now legendary, Second City comedy troupe. And although Long’s forte would ultimately prove to be comedy, she first made her mark as a psychiatric patient in the TV movie of the week – The Cracker Factory (1979), to be followed by other ‘serious’ roles. Long’s prospects changed in 1982, and arguably, for the better, when she appeared in the smash comedy, Night Shift. That same year, Long accepted a supporting role on a little-known NBC sitcom with sagging ratings – Cheers. And although, in time, Cheers became a part of the network’s ‘must see’ programming, Long would choose to leave the lucrative series at its height in 1987 to concentrate on film work. Unlike many TV personalities, who aspire, but miserably fail to rival their small screen success, Long’s ambitions as a movie star were briefly well-grounded with such feather-weight hits as Hello Again (1987), Troop Beverly Hills (1989), The Brady Bunch Movie (1995) and its 1996 sequel, adding heft to her art. And no one could question Long’s actor’s acumen. Indeed, she was still grinding out the comedy on Cheers while appearing in The Money Pit (1986) and Outrageous Fortune – a very tough, very hard-working actress, also offered – but declining – the leads in Jumpin’ Jack Flash (1986), Working Girl (1988), and, My Stepmother Is An Alien (1988).

Leslie Dixon’s screenplay for Outrageous Fortune relies heavily on audience’s preconceived stereotypes about these two actresses, the already built-in expectation for Midler’s foul-mouth – a holdover from her raucous stand-up days, and, Long’s goody-two-shoes, gleaned from her stint on Cheers) Outrageous Fortune is subversively hilarious. Our story begins when refined, but slightly spoiled and struggling actress, Lauren Ames (Long) bribes her father to write her a check to study with Stanislav Korzenowski (Robert Prosky) – a renowned theater instructor. Inadvertently, C-grade movie queen, Sandy Brozinsky (Midler) stumbles into these auditions – a brash and belligerent breath of fresh air. Lauren and Sandy take an instant dislike to each other when first they meet in Korzenowski's class. However, both are dating the same man, Michael Santers (Peter Coyote). After a night of passionate love-making with Michael, Lauren returns to class, cooing and ‘in love’ with the entire world – the afterglow acknowledged by Sandy as “Oh, it was that kind of night” to which Lauren coolly replies, “Well…not the kind you’re used to…no money was exchanged.” The mysterious two-timing continues with Michael leading both women down the primrose path until he fakes his own death in a gas explosion at a local florist’s shop as Lauren looks on. Attending the body at the morgue, Sandy and Lauren come to realize the man in their lives is one in the same and has played them both for fools.

Distinguishing the badly charred corpse from Michael, after inspecting the girth of his package and judging it inferior to the member they have each known in moments of passion, Lauren and Sandy decide to go in search of the real Michael, whom they are certain is alive and patiently awaiting their return. Their first port of call is a local tobacconist (Jerry Zaks) to discern whether Michael has come around for the rare cigarette he usually smokes. As, with a little prodding – and a promise to perform fellatio, next leads the pair to an abandoned building in Harlem where Lauren suggests they might very well be abducted, if only – as Sandy points out – the likelihood of them being raped and murdered does not happen first. As it turns out, the gals stumble upon two drug dealers (J.W. Smith and Robert Pastorelli) who have also counterfeited I.D. for Michael. In due time, Sandy and Lauren will be told Michael is a double agent, now working for the KGB, as is, Korzenowski. Add to this mix a pair of hapless FBI agents, Weldon (Anthony Heald) and Atkins (John Schuck), who are tailing Lauren and Sandy, fervently believing they are in cahoots with Michael who, as yet, does not know any of them are hot on his trail.

When Lauren and Sandy finally do find Michael, he tries to kill them but is thwarted in his attempt by Weldon and Atkins. The girls now discover Michael has stolen a bio-toxin that could destroy huge areas of nature with just a few drops. Michael is willing to sell the formula to Russian assassins working for Korzenowski. Now, the chase leads everyone to an isolated outpost in New Mexico where Lauren and Sandy are introduced to pot-smoking Navajo guide, Frank (George Carlin). Sandy promises to shower Frank with money, or at least enough to keep him in tokes for the foreseeable future. Frank takes the girls, disguised as two adolescent boys, to a local whorehouse run by a tough-as-nails madam (Diana Bellamy). Eluding their prostitutes, Lauren and Sandy find Michael and manage to steal back the toxin and money before he can get dressed. Cornered on a series of mountain tops, Lauren uses her formidable ballet skills to assail a grand jeté. Ill-equipped to make the same leap, Michael slips and falls to his death, leaving Lauren to lean over the edge and call out after him, “Nine years of ballet, asshole!” Having saved the world, Lauren tosses Michael’s briefcase over the side of the cliff, its million-dollar payoff showering Frank and his Native American buddies who have come to witness the spectacle.  We fade up on a Manhattan opera company production of Hamlet with Lauren as the legendary great Dane and Sandy as her Ophelia. The girls take an enthusiast bow.

A riff on the usual male ‘buddy-buddy’ actioner, Outrageous Fortune is filthy-tongued fun. The joy of it derives from having Lauren’s primness chronically diffused by Sandy’s vulgarity at virtually every turn. And herein, the typecasting of Midler and Long is beautifully on point.  Even as Leslie Dixon’s screenplay bounces from vignette to vignette, providing the barest of connective tissue to move the plot along from points ‘A’ to ‘B’ and beyond, the antagonistic camaraderie between Midler and Long is what remains the picture’s chef-d'œuvre, selling this compendium of kookiness as bright and breezy badinage to make us blush and laugh. “Does needle dick…the bug f@#ker mean anything to you?” If you’ve seen the movie – it should. Given its unexpected shifts, not only in comedy but also scenery, from New York to Albuquerque, Outrageous Fortune certainly lives up to its name.  This isn’t high-minded comedy and that is decidedly most of its charm. Every once in a long while, it is supremely satisfying to go slumming – especially when one’s MC is Midler, and one’s moral compass is Long; the ying and the yang in their respective fields of comedy.  Reportedly, Long created some friction on the set, not from professional jealousy, but in her desire to get each scene just right. That sort of striving for perfection often brands artists as ‘difficult’ when the word that ought to apply is ‘dedicated’ to their craft. And Long, with her ultra-conservative wardrobe and rigid deportment, is the perfect ‘straight man’ to Midler’s loose and juicy, frizzy-haired minx in blue-jeans. Both ladies get a lot of economy out of their acidic sass. Peter Coyote struggles to be convincing as the ruthless double agent, but it works – somehow. Overall, then, Outrageous Fortune is ‘feel good’ entertainment with some unapologetic and gutsy repartee between these dueling dames.

Buena Vista Home Entertainment delivers a remarkably sharp and relatively vibrant DVD.  I sincerely wish Kino Lorber would get this one for a Blu-ray release. Their disc of Long’s other quaint little programmer, Hello Again, looked absolutely gorgeous. On this DVD, colors are, for the most part, vibrant with minor fluctuations in color temperature. Contrast is solid. Film grain appears slightly harsh, but overall is not distracting. Age-related artifacts are also present. The audio is Dolby 2.0 and slightly muffled in spots. But on the whole, it satisfies - enough for this primarily dialogue-driven action/comedy. A theatrical trailer is the only extra.

FILM RATING (out of 5 - 5 being the best)

3.5

VIDEO/AUDIO

3

EXTRAS

0