Viewed in
2010
Formats
HD TV
Premise
Richard Pryor plays a minor league pitcher, who is given the chance to win $300 million dollars, if he can spend $30 million in a month.
Liked
Pryor's performance, interesting premise.
Thoughts
A funny, charming film.
Without the late great Pryor, this film would be preposterous. His naturally lovable presence made it easy to root for as his character jumped through all sorts of hurdles. John Candy also put in some funny work as the wise-cracking sidekick, without being a wise-ass.
As silly as the premise is, it was unique, and definitely sparked a lengthy argument at work about what one would do if put in the same situation. How he accomplished his spending was quite ingenious at times and hilarious. Also, I liked the subplot of him trying to reach the pros.
The weaknesses in the film, aside from the barely plausible premise, were the predictable subplots, and wooden performances by the others. While I sometimes got confused by the rules of the game or simply the numbers, I could still tell basically what was happening.
Thanks to Pryor's performance, I had a fun time with this interesting (though hard to believe) concept of a film. I wonder if this kind of film could be remade, because the economics of such a premise would be very different in today's digital world. Would still need a charismatic lead though.
What I would change
Nothing.
