Pals (1987 TV Movie) User Reviews

Not The Most Memorable Comedy

[ccthemovieman-1 · 4/10 · 27 June 2006]

This was a harmless but, unfortunately, mostly humorless comedy about two older guys discovering 3.6 million dollars in drug money and then having it change their lifestyle.

Don Ameche and George C. Scott play the old guys. Along for the ride are Scott's mother, played by Sylvia Sidney....and, oh yes, a teenage girl with purple hair. Sidney plays a crude but-not-as-crude-as-Ruth Gordon-type, while Scott and Ameche are nice guys. Of course, the fact that they stole the money is okay, according to the scriptwriters. Never confuse film scripts with Scripture.

This could have been funny, especially with this cast, but it wasn't. By halfway through, I was wondering whether to just re-wind the tape and bring it back to the video store. I stayed with it, but was not rewarded for doing so.

Not bad...but I can't help thinking it could have been a lot better.

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 28 May 2023]

"Pals" is an okay made for TV movie starring George C. Scott and Don Ameche. It's a comedy and both actors have done SOME comedic work...but neither seem to be innately funny nor have the comedy instincts the film could have used. Additionally, the script makes the mistake of having one of the characters transform himself into a jerk.

Jack (Scott) and Art (Ameche) are two old men who are friends. One day, they're on a road trip with Jack's mother (Sylvia Sidney) and they stumble upon a car with a suitcase full of money in the trunk. Soon, the hitman who owns the car arrives and tries to shoot them as they run away with the money.

When they later count the money, there's more than $3,000,000 in cash and so the two come up with a plan. They fake their deaths, abandon their homes and create new identities and buy a mansion as well as a fishing business. Soon the killer is on their trail...as Jack behaves like a jerk and pretends to be from 'old money'. And, considering how jerky he's behaving, I'm rooting for the hitman!

I think making the characters more sympathetic, having funnier actors in the leads AND eliminating the slide-whistle would have helped this movie a lot. As it is, it's not bad but you can't help but think it should have been better. Additionally, the longer I watched the film, the more I just wanted it to end.