Burglar

source: Burglar

Trailer—Burglar

Burglar

BURGLAR is a stupid outing for Whoopi, who plays a cat burglar who witnesses a murder and becomes wanted for it. Now she has to find the person responsible for the murder before it's too late. Everyone seems wasted in this film, and not even Goldberg is any help this time. At least her role in JUMPIN' JACK FLASH was interesting. She took the money and ran on this one, resulting in a film with poor acting and lack of direction. A near-total waste. 1 out of 5

The totally unbelievable plot of this 1987 Warner Brothers release has to do with cat burglar Whoopi Goldberg changing into a law abiding citizen when she works to solve a murder case. This rather weak comedy was oddly originally intended to star Bruce Willis.

Two movies made roughly the same time. Both starring a woman with an androgynous name and androgynous clothing. Both with a mystery to solve. Both starring Whoopi Goldberg. The movies were Jumpin' Jack Flash and this one. What was the deal with Whoopi in '86 and '87? In this movie she's a cat burglar that spends time doing everything but stealing while she's on the job. On one job she overhears a murder and is immediately the blame. Now she has to figure out who the real murderer is to clear her name. I never was a big fan of Whoopi and this movie didn't change my mind. She had a distinct look and voice, she turned it into a successful entertainment career, kudos to her, but I think I'm done with her movies.

I'm surprised the reviews for this movie are so negative. I found it to be very funny. Bob Goldthwait plays, well, himself in two scenes that literally had me on the floor. It may not be a masterpiece, but the characters are all played well and the storyline is serviceable. Goldberg carries the movie well enough and has good support from everyone else, but really, Goldthwait steals the movie with his scenes. There is a chase scene that's rather underwhelming, but after the chase scenes in the Matrix Reloaded and Terminator 3, almost everything is. Aside from that, the directing is solid. I enjoyed this movie and continue to enjoy with successive watchings. Keep an eye out in discount bins and you can score this movie for four bucks. I think it's worth it.

The story line of "Burglar" starts off well. It shows Whoopi Goldberg, dressed as an elderly fat woman, ripping off a house. When it appears that she is caught, she becomes hysterical, leading the owner and his friend to think that she saw who did this. She is next referred to a dentist, who wants her jewels back from her ex-husband. Trouble is that while Whoopi is in the house, the ex returns and is soon murdered. It is at this point that the movie goes downhill rapidly. It is unclear how Whoopi tries to clear her name. In other words, you don't understand how she got the leads to pursue the real killer. Lesley Ann Warren plays the dentist nicely. Unfortunately, her part disappears for most of this picture. Too bad that the writing didn't go away as well. We do have somewhat of an exciting car chase with the resulting crackups, but this is too predictable. As always, beware of those crooked attorneys.

Whoopi made three action comedies in the late 80's: Fatal Beauty, Jumping Jack Flash and this one. None of them are deathless cinema or comparable to her later stuff, but they are all better than their reviews would generally indicate. They usually get 1* reviews -- I would give them 2 to 2 1/2 (out of 5*), especially if you are a fan of Ms Goldberg. All three of these films are worthy of a couple of $ for a rental or sticking with through a late night rerun. With all three, it does take a first rate cast to bring some rather tired material to life, but there are a lot worse films getting a lot better reviews--check 'em out for yourself!

I believe most of the people who claim they did not like this movie, were over thinking it. This is a funny, well done movie. It mixes a lot of great work, especially from "Bobcat", my favorite is his delivery in the Mayday bar, this movie is so 80's. Maybe it rubs some wrong, but if you were an adult in the late 1980's, this movie would be a real treat. Unfortunately many of the jokes are for Americans and our culture; I can understand it not working for other English speakers, such as Canadians, etc. A lot of slang, and *#@! ^& etc. I almost forgot the most offensive part of the movie for those politically correct tobacco Nazis. Almost everyone including Whoopi is shown smoking, and smoking and enjoying it!!! That's right kids it was a widely practiced social interaction between people especially the opposite sex. Just look at it as a time travel back to the 1980's, sex, drugs and rock and road were still alive and well, big hair, and all the rest. You either love it or hate it.