Meatballs *** (1979, Bill Murray, Harvey Atkin, Kate Lynch, Kristine DeBell, Jack Blum, Matt Craven, Cindy Girling, Todd Hoffman, Keith Knight, Chris Makepeace) – Classic Movie Review 6519

Director Ivan Reitman hits it big in 1979 with his first mainstream movie, an amiable if fairly crass teen comedy about a load of nincompoops enjoying summer on a holiday camp – a well tried and tested topic to be sure.

As camp counsellor Tripper, Bill Murray tries hard, and succeeds in putting a lot of oomph and laughs into a flagging project.

But the rather threadbare, episodic screenplay by Len Blum, Dan [Daniel] Goldberg, Harold Ramis and Janis Allen is crude and slushy in all the wrong places. It is good natured enough but, Murray apart, the laughs are relatively few and far between.

Also in the cast are Harvey Atkin, Russ Banham, Ron Barry, Kate Lynch, Kristine DeBell, Jack Blum, Matt Craven, Cindy Girling, Todd Hoffman, Keith Knight, Paul Boyle, Chris Makepeace, Alison Diver, Norma Dell’Agnese, Margot Pinvidic, Sarah Torgov and Patrick Hynes.

It is shot by Don [Donald] Wilder, produced by Dan [Daniel] Goldberg and scored by Elmer Bernstein, with Art Direction by David Orin Charles.

It was a huge hit, taking $43,046,000 in the US. Three much poorer sequels followed: Meatballs 2 in 1984, Meatballs 3 in 1987 and Meatballs 4 in 1992.

Reitman followed it with Stripes, Ghostbusters, Legal Eagles and Twins.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 6519

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