Review of Real Men

Real Men (1987)
REAL stupid...but you may laugh hard like me!
7 July 2002
Man, you realllllllly have to have a broad sense of humor for this one. It totally has to hit you the right way, or it could easily end up on your worst of all time list. Which is only one of two places it could end up. You either love it, or despise it, I can't imagine there being a middle ground for anyone. You could write an entire review (which I probably will) moreso on the type of humor in the film, than the actual film content itself. Well, here, I'll try anyway. Belushi is a confident, expertly trained CIA agent who knows all the right moves. Ritter is a look-a-like of a dead agent who the CIA needs to help deliver a message to aliens (see, here we go). Belushi pseudo-kidnapps Ritter to go along with the mission, which is where the laughs really began for me. Ritter's angry resistance is so hilarious and Belushi's sauveness is extremely catchy. The film then turns into a road movie with Ritter going through a transformation from the wuss to a more confidant guy. The fever pitch of the film is the much mentioned clown fight with a classic line from Belushi of "No hittin' in the n*ts, allright?", then BANG, he delivers a foot to a clowns groin. Belushi starts to go a little soft toward the end and it's up to Ritter to (you ready for another one) deliver a glass of water to an alien-human in exchange for the secret to a better earth. Now, in just those few examples you can tell if you'd be in for the whole ride or not. As it is, it's only 85 minutes and was released to (if it was lucky) a hundred theaters. I didn't even mention Belushi swinging from a balcony by his shoelace(!) or the moment he feels up his FATHER. Something must be said as well for the music, which is itself, too, funny-stupid, an oddball mix of southern violin work and Italian mob music. The tone is set early so you are at least prepared for what you're in for. An absolutely dopey, silly comedy that may just hit you the right way.
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