SYNOPSICS
Lost in America (1985) is a English movie. Albert Brooks has directed this movie. Albert Brooks,Julie Hagerty,Sylvia Farrel,Tina Kincaid are the starring of this movie. It was released in 1985. Lost in America (1985) is considered one of the best Comedy movie in India and around the world.
David and Linda Howard are successful yuppies from LA. When he gets a job disappointment, David convinces Linda that they should quit their jobs, liquidate their assets, and emulate the movie Easy Rider, spending the rest of their lives travelling around America...in a Winnebago! (This is a kind of large, luxurious mobile home which suits a 1980's yuppie more than the counterculture dropout approach of Easy Rider.) His idealized, unrealistic plans soon begin to go spectacularly wrong.
Same Actors
Lost in America (1985) Reviews
Great comedy, and quite an 80's time capsule.
Lost In America is one of those movies that I always meant to see, but never remembered to rent. A few weeks ago, I finally got a chance to see it, and I loved it. Albert Brooks and Julie Hagerty are perfect as the classic yuppie couple that decide to set out on the open road after a series of strange circumstances. Brooks' rave-out on his boss at the beginning of the film is priceless, as is his interaction with the unemployment office worker in the midwest... "I'll just check my $100,000 a year job file." Brooks is also great when he tries to reason with the casino owner, and arguing with Hagerty over her inability to use the words "nest" and "egg". "From now on, birds live in ROUND STICKS!!!, for breakfast, you will have THINGS over easy!!!!" Most of the best dialogue and scenes are delivered from Brooks, but Hagerty is quite good as well, as the timid wife whos honest, yet HUGE blunder sets the tone for the rest of the film. My only complaint is that it seemed about a half hour too short. When they decide to return to New York, I would've allowed one more wacky situation on the way back home, but it was not to be. It left me feeling that the ending was a bit rushed. But this is a minor complaint from a great film that deserves to be seen over and over.
Hilarious, And You've Got To See It, It's Historic
**Possible Spoilers**Without question, Albert Brooks is the absolute master of subtle humor. In `Lost In America,' the writer-director-star weaves an hilarious tapestry that is no less than a paean to an entire generation of Yuppies. When David Howard (Brooks), the creative director for one of the largest advertising agencies in the world, fails to get the promotion he's `waited his whole life for,' he quits his job (`Well, I got fired, but it's the same thing'), then convinces his wife, Linda (Julie Hagerty), to do the same. They then proceed to sell their house, liquidate all their assets (`We got a ride on the inflation train you would not believe,'), buy a thirty-foot motor home and drop out of society in order to `find' themselves. Patterning himself after the guys in `Easy Rider,' David's plan is for them to set off across America, to `Touch Indians, see the mountains and the prairies and all the rest of that song,' and they leave Los Angeles with a new motor home, a substantial nest egg and an anxious sense of adventure. It all soon goes awry, of course, and what follows are some of the funniest scenes you'll ever see in an intelligent comedy. Among the most memorable are the ones with Michael Greene (As David's boss), when he informs David that instead of a promotion he's being transferred to New York to work on their latest acquisition, Ford (`We got trucks, too.'); one with Garry Marshall (As a casino manager in Las Vegas); and finally, the scene in which David explains the concept of the `nest egg' to Linda, which has to be, historically, one of the classic comedy scenes of all time. The solid supporting cast includes Tom Tarpey (Brad Tooey, the `bald-headed man from New York'), Ernie Brown, Art Frankel, Charles Boswell and Joey Coleman. Written by Brooks and Monica Johnson, `Lost In America' is a timeless comedy classic that can be enjoyed over and over again. I rate this one 10/10.
ALBERT BROOKS: YOU RULE!!!!
Who said Albert Brooks is an acquired taste? After watching "The Muse," which until this day remains the FUNNIEST comedy I've ever seen, I've been curious about Brooks's work. Since this had its place on the AFI's funniest comedies of all time, I decided I'd check it out. Though I didn't feel this was quite as funny as "The Muse," Brooks delivers his trademark sarcastic comic gags. It's hilarious to watch Brooks, a yuppie businessman who just quit his job, try to apply for a job among the lower class. Asking if there are any "executive positions." Brooks has the best timing among all the comic actors. His style of delivering his brilliantly sarcastic dialogue is impeccable and almost never fails to crack me up! Brooks's movies are not only funny, but they're well-written. Lots of the time comedies move on the sheer energy of the cast. In his films, the writing alone is energized enough and the cast adds to that energy. Brooks and Julie Hagerty have an incredible chemistry, and their conflicts are absolutely hysterical. "From now on, you will never be allowed to use the words 'nest' or 'egg' ever again!" That's a line I will always remember. Brooks has that memorable, unique style of writing that I'm sure comedy writers everywhere will either acknowledge thoroughly or try to imitate (unsuccessfully, of course). One thing I just cannot understand is the R-rating. Brooks, being one of the few tasteful, intelligent comedy writers in the biz, rarely uses profanity in his movies. Only twice do we hear the "f" word, and for the right reasons (He was angry at his boss for God's sake!). I'm well-aware that the PG-13 rating wasn't invented when the movie came out, but "Sixteen Candles" used the "f" word twice and got away with a PG, as well as a shower scene involving a female and a notorious close-up of her breasts. Don't expect anything filthy in this movie, because of the stupidly-awarded R-rating. Brooks doesn't sink that low. For all those who appreciate good, intelligent humor--an escape from cheap slapstick and gross-out gags. Not that I don't appreciate that type of humor ever, but this is REALLY what comedy is all about! My score: 7 (out of 10)
Hilarious satire from masterful Albert Brooks
Albert Brooks and Monica Johnson have fashioned in their Lost in America screenplay a spot-on portrait of upper middle class malaise and its correspondent affluence atrophy -- and skewered it all with perfect vignettes of accomplished comic finesse. Most fans of this film -- and it certainly has a cult following -- will gleefully cite scenes ranging from the legendary "nest egg" speech to the job service interview as examples of terrific comedy, and I wholeheartedly agree: Lost in America is very funny. Brooks, who not only co-wrote the film but also stars and directs, only falters a bit when it comes to the overall pacing (I thought the section that opens the film spends too much time in Los Angeles before the couple decides to head out for the open road), but this is a minor complaint. Most of the time I am laughing too hard to point out any flaws.
An Unexpected Delight
Lost in America shows that Albert Brooks is a unique individual, who can tell a realistic story with dialogue and structure that are just as quirky as his character, David Howard. We start with what is clearly an unhappy couple having a tense discussion about how their life will play out in the next few days. David will get a promotion, the two of them will move to a new house, and everything will be fine. It is when David does not get the promotion he expects that everything changes, and the couple has to learn to live spontaneously. Wait though, because this can't just happen – the characters have to learn/make mistakes in order to change their outlook on life. David is still very methodical, planning to use a specific amount of money for one thing and carefully spend the rest on luxuries after the two are remarried. Unfortunately, the film resides to making a dumb character out of his wife Linda, who loses all of their money (except $820) on an entire night of playing roulette. Because God forbid we have a thoughtful female for the protagonist's wife in this film about finding the self. To me, the pacing of this film seems a little off – it is quick and funny at some parts, but these parts are cut between some scenes that are overly long with few cuts and tons of dialogue to preach the message of the film to the viewer, the message being when times are tough it is important not to lose the sense of self. The second half of the film is not as predictable as the first half, particularly the delightful turn at the conclusion of the film. With the tone of the film set, I knew this film would have a happy ending, but what I was expecting did not involve David getting his previous job back, because it kind of goes against the themes presented in the middle of the film. I enjoyed the nice surprise though, and things were clear to me when David asked if he should "eat s***" in New York – it made the scene where he examines a dream car passing by a lot more relevant than I had taken that scene to be. While most of the film force feeds the importance of living life by your own terms (especially with too many references to Easy Rider) David getting his "executive" job back at the end shows that, as I have read somewhere before, financial stability can equal emotional stability at times.