Home Fries (1998)

Director:

Dean Parisot

Writer (WGA):

Vince Gilligan (written by)

Release Date:

25 November 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance | Drama

Plot:

Pregnant Sally unknowingly falls for the stepson of the deceased father of her baby and has to deal with his homicidal family.

Plot Keywords:

Helicopter | Pregnancy | Adultery | Birthday Party | Black Comedy

Cast

Drew Barrymore	...	Sally Jackson
Catherine O'Hara	...	Beatrice Lever
Luke Wilson	...	Dorian Montier
Jake Busey	...	Angus Montier
Shelley Duvall	...	Mrs. Jackson
Kim Robillard	...	Billy
Daryl Mitchell	...	Roy
Lanny Flaherty	...	Red Jackson
Chris Ellis	...	Henry Lever
Blue Deckert	...	Sheriff
Mark Walters	...	Deputy
Shane Steiner	...	Soldier in Jeep (as Tommy Shane Steiner)
Theresa Merritt	...	Mrs. Vaughan
Jill Parker-Jones	...	Lamaze Instructor
Morgana Shaw	...	Lucy Garland

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements and some sexual humor.

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Canada:14A (Alberta) | Canada:PG (British Columbia/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | South Korea:15 | Australia:PG | Canada:G (Quebec) | Iceland:12 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #35577) | UK:12 | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Singapore:PG | Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Company:

Baltimore Pictures

Trivia:

In the first half of the film, Angus (Jake Busey) makes reference to a story where a wife kills her husband with a leg of lamb. The story is "Lamb to the Slaughter" from Roald Dahl's book "Tales of the Unexpected". Many will recognize this plot from a classic 1958 episode of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (1955).

Goofs:

When the Oldsmobile station wagon pulls up to the drive thru window in the first scene of the movie, it has a beige interior with door mounted seat belts. When the station wagon is shown in the next scene, the interior appears blue and has standard seat belts.

Quotes:

[Instructing Sally to give birth]
Childbirth Instructor: You didn't get pregnant with your legs closed!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "HBO First Look: 'Blue Streak': Inside & Undercover" (1999)

Soundtrack:

Magic Moments

What does it want to be--black comedy or romantic comedy?

This looks like a case of a classic schizophrenic Hollywood movie--too dark-humored for fans of romantic comedy, not nearly outrageous enough for those looking for that quality. (You may get a little nervous, though, when a shotgun-wielding character walks into a fast-food restaurant full of kids.) Consequently it will end up alienating a lot of viewers looking for the one type of film or the other. Most of the characters aren't very enjoyable to watch, with the noted exception of Drew Barrymore in the lead. I was disappointed that Catherine O'Hara's part wasn't any better--she could have really livened the movie up if her character had been a little more forceful.

Despite all the problems, there was still something left to like here, and I would give it a positive recommendation, but just barely. On second thought, recommending this movie to someone would be a risky proposition, but I thought that overall it was marginally successful.