Average Rating: 6.9/10
Reviews Counted: 25
Fresh: 21 | Rotten: 4
An enjoyable farce that relocates Jean Renoir's Boudu Saved From Drowning to '80s California, offering fine comedic performances from Nick Nolte, Richard Dreyfuss and Bette Midler.
Average Rating: 7/10
Critic Reviews: 5
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 1
An enjoyable farce that relocates Jean Renoir's Boudu Saved From Drowning to '80s California, offering fine comedic performances from Nick Nolte, Richard Dreyfuss and Bette Midler.
liked it
Average Rating: 2.9/5
User Ratings: 15,302
Down and Out in Beverly Hills is an updated remake of the 1932 Jean Renoir film Boudu Saved From Drowning. Philandering businessman Dave Whiteman (Richard Dreyfuss) rescues scraggly tramp Jerry Baskin (Nick Nolte) from drowning himself in Dave's swimming pool. Much against his will, Jerry is invited to enjoy the hospitality of Dave, his social-climbing wife, Barbara (Bette Midler), and their sexually ambivalent son, Max (Evan Richards). The hapless hobo bonds only with the family dog, Matisse,
Jan 31, 1986 Wide
Aug 13, 2002
All Critics (25) | Top Critics (5) | Fresh (21) | Rotten (4) | DVD (2)
On the basically farcical level where it chooses to stay, it is a funny and likable movie.
Although it is more of a comedy of manners than a well-developed story, there are enough yocks and bright moments to make it a thoroughly enjoyable outing.
As a comedy of manners it has a dependably keen aim, with its most wicked barbs leavened by Mr. Mazursky's obvious fondness for his characters.
Let me just say that Down and Out in Beverly Hills made me laugh longer and louder than any film I've seen in a long time.
Paul Mazursky hasn't only remade Jean Renoir's sublime 1931 Boudu Saved From Drowning: he's yuppified it, inverting virtually every meaning until the film becomes a celebration of the crassest kind of materialism.
A single moment of magical realism shows the Babe-that-might-have-been, very charitably speaking, had the makers of this doggie adventure-comedy chosen a more daring and creative route...
The cast is entirely up to the comic hysteria Mazursky requires of them, though Mike the dog steals whatever scene he is in.
A funny and poignant if also broad reworking of Renoir's classic, Boudu Saved from Drowning, Paul Mazursky's satire also works as a critique of L.A. nouveau riche and their crass lifestyle, reflected, among other things, in the garrish color palette.
This update of Renoir's Boudu Saved from Drowning starts life as a satire on the tribal rites of the new and filthy rich, but goes badly wrong somewhere down the line.
funny with bite
Three great turns in one side-splitting movie
Filled with hilarious incidents and clever one-liners.
Silly but fun, and a big box-office earner.
One of Mazursky's few completely successful films.
A comical scenarios, with a fun harmless feel to it, an enjoyable feel good movie
October 25, 2006Super Reviewer
Funny comedy about a tramp who tries to kill himself in a rich family's swimming pool. They take him in. Good cast.
December 31, 2010
Super Reviewer
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