Eating Raoul

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source: Eating Raoul

Eating Raoul

BEWARE! SPOILERS AHEAD! Eating Raoul perfectly satirized an "ordinary, run-of-the-mill" couple who tried to reach their dream while they coped with the swingers' way of life in 80s Hollywood. As Raoul, a professional criminal posing as a locksmith (excellently portrayed by Robert Beltran), "worms" his way into Paul and Mary's life (and Paul's wife!), he takes full advantage of their naiveté. But, Raoul gets his in the end!! In this writer's opinion, there was something eerily amusing about Raoul missing from the final "dinner" scene...in the normal physical sense, of course! Cheers to Paul and Mary Bland and their achievement of the "great American scheme dream"!!

Writer-director Paul Bartel co-stars with statuesque Mary Woronov as a prudish married couple in Los Angeles who hope to someday open their own quaint restaurant. Funding proves to be their sticking point, until one night a calamitous run-in with a wealthy swinger gives the pair a twisted new idea. Uneven dark farce with the germ of a great comic premise--and blessed with the talented leads to nearly pull it off successfully. Woronov, with her incredulous sexiness, gets possibly her best screen role here, and her sisterly rapport with Bartel is perfect within this context. It's a very slight movie however, with small, quirky laughs sharing space with frantic gags and dumb jokes. Bartel (as a filmmaker) doesn't trust himself completely, and his pacing is so slow that many potentially funny lines or ideas are muffled. Still, the plot is worked out satisfyingly and the film's better moments stay in the memory. ** from ****

Eating Raoul is so eager to please and never overstays its welcome. Shot for what seems to be $3, it's amazing that the film turns out as nice and polished as it is. Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov play the aptly named Blands. They dream to, one day, start their own eatery, but it seems as if it's just not in the cards for them. After a mix up, they end up accidentally killing a man and, thinking he's a nobody, they take his wallet. At that moment, a brilliant business plan is born and the Blands pose as sexual deviants to lure people to their homes, kill them (with a frying pan) and steal their money. Things get complicated when a young man named Raoul discovers their secret and wants in on their scheme. The basic concept of Eating Raoul is so damn goofy that it's amazing it works as well as it does, but Bartel and Woronov smartly play everything super straight and it works. If you consider yourself a dark comedy fan and haven't seen this movie, you need to change that right now.

No other black comedy, except perhaps "War of the Roses" comes close to the originality and cleverness of "Eating Raoul". It is totally outrageous, and that is what elevates the film to greatness. Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov play the "Blands" to perfection, and the unbelievable supporting cast is icing on the cake. The movie is so quotable, "Do you realize we just made $500? Yea, just by killing people", it's amazing. Check the numerous quotes on IMDb and you will see what I mean. Each viewing uncovers something new and hilarious about "Eating Raoul", strong testimony for it deserving the title "gold standard" of black comedy. - MERK

It's the lurid deprived world of Hollywood. Paul Bland (Paul Bartel) is a liquor store clerk in a bad neighborhood but he has gourmet tastes. His wife Mary (Mary Woronov) is a nurse. Their rent is getting raised and they are low on cash. They hate their swinging noisy neighbors. When one of them tries to rape Mary, Paul kills him with a frying pan and steals his money. After another kill, they decide to advertise to lure more swingers. Thief Raoul Mendoza (Robert Beltran) breaks in and discovers a dead body. He proposes to join the Blands with them keeping the money and him keeping the bodies. It's weird and ridiculous deadpan humor. It's also fun. Bartel and Woronov are a great couple. It has a few big laughs but it is generally a lot of sly silly comedic takes. It is definitely unique.

The Basic plot: A bland couple, The Blands, composed of a wine fanatic and a shapely nurse , live in an apartment house filled with sex-pervert swingers , and when they want to go out and own a restaurant in the country ,but don't have enough money ,so they become bondage merchants who kill their clients for cash.But, Raoul, a handsome young thief, comes in and violates their plans..... The praise: Dementedly funny,original and quirky, you really can swallow it up. The comic acting by Mary Woronov, Robert Beltran, Paul Bartel, and Doris the Dominatrix is perfect, and the satiric, ironic,darkly comic side is played to a luscious extent. The bondage merchant scenes are hilarious so much that I can't tell you, and the theme song adds deeply to the ironic side........Enjoy!

This movie keeps ending up on my top ten list, no matter how many others come and go with the years. Director Paul Bartel began with a ridiculous premise, and then had everyone play it perfectly straight, which resulted in a comedy that doesn't telegraph its laughs. It's evident that the film was lovingly polished (again) in postproduction, down to the level of tiny incidental sound effects that add immeasurably to the hilarity if you happen to catch them. The story is full of murders, but there's no gore 'n guts here; it's all as discreet as an Agatha Christie novel, where Death is tastefully signaled by a thud from another room. EATING RAOUL is an excellent introduction to the topics of Los Angeles, food, swingers, and real estate loans, and resist as you may, you'll end up cheering for Paul and Mary as they work toward their dream of opening their very own restaurant.