The first feature film starring vehicle for 'Saturday Night Live' cast member Dana Carvey casts him as Eddie Farrell. Eddie is a Chicago con artist, who along with his partner Lou (Todd Graff, "The Abyss") has run afoul of powerful mobster Sal Nichols (James Tolkan, the "Back to the Future" series). Hiding out at a posh suburban home into which he's broken, Eddie is mistaken for the house-sitter by amiable Milt (Robert Loggia, "Big") and his wife Mona (Doris Belack, "Tootsie"). From there he is able to con his way into a plum job, working for bathroom fixture tycoon Milt. Milt conveniently has a gorgeous daughter, Annie (Julia Campbell, "Romy & Michelle's High School Reunion"), a hard-working young doctor with whom Eddie naturally falls in love.
"Opportunity Knocks" may be really no ball of fire, but it certainly delivers a decent amount of laughs, and remains pretty pleasant throughout. Ultimately, the story is quite formulaic and predictable, with Eddie developing a conscience and feeling that he can't keep on lying to Milt and his family. Still, there's a certain satisfaction as the character uses all of his skills to rope Sal into an untenable situation and thereby get his revenge. This being rated PG-13, the violence never gets overly serious, with the mobster characters managing to be intimidating without being as thoroughly nasty as they could have been had the movie been rated R.
As a vehicle for Carvey, "Opportunity Knocks" consistently does its job, offering him the opportunity to do some real acting while also indulging in some un-P. C. dialect shtick (and even his "impression" of then-U. S. president George H. W. Bush). Most priceless is when Carvey belts out a rendition of "Born to be Wild" at a karaoke bar, and does some truly goofy dancing at a bar mitzvah. But the whole cast is engaging; look also for improv comedy legend Del Close (the "Blob" remake) in a bit role. Ever-delightful Milo O'Shea ("Barbarella") has a nice supporting role as Max, Eddies' mentor in the art of the con.
Good fun in general, and one of the more entertaining movies from this era to showcase an SNL talent.
Seven out of 10.
"Opportunity Knocks" may be really no ball of fire, but it certainly delivers a decent amount of laughs, and remains pretty pleasant throughout. Ultimately, the story is quite formulaic and predictable, with Eddie developing a conscience and feeling that he can't keep on lying to Milt and his family. Still, there's a certain satisfaction as the character uses all of his skills to rope Sal into an untenable situation and thereby get his revenge. This being rated PG-13, the violence never gets overly serious, with the mobster characters managing to be intimidating without being as thoroughly nasty as they could have been had the movie been rated R.
As a vehicle for Carvey, "Opportunity Knocks" consistently does its job, offering him the opportunity to do some real acting while also indulging in some un-P. C. dialect shtick (and even his "impression" of then-U. S. president George H. W. Bush). Most priceless is when Carvey belts out a rendition of "Born to be Wild" at a karaoke bar, and does some truly goofy dancing at a bar mitzvah. But the whole cast is engaging; look also for improv comedy legend Del Close (the "Blob" remake) in a bit role. Ever-delightful Milo O'Shea ("Barbarella") has a nice supporting role as Max, Eddies' mentor in the art of the con.
Good fun in general, and one of the more entertaining movies from this era to showcase an SNL talent.
Seven out of 10.