My 5 Wives

Tsk! Tsk! Tsk! I'm embarrassed by a few of the unpleasant, negative reviews for My 5 Wives. Review this film as a Lampoon, sure, why not? But review it with a sharp Harpoon? Now, that's unnecessary overkill. Dangerfield deserves better given his legacy and contributions to the industry. It was Dangerfield who gave career starts to struggling comedians like Jim Carrey and Tim Allen. He took them under his wing and shepherded them until they could find their own "comedic voices." Jacob Rodney Cohen, born November 22, 1921, was a multifaceted, stand-up comedian, actor, producer, screenwriter, musician and author. His self-deprecating one-line jokes such as, "I get no respect," have risen to the status of iconic humor. Who else could have the King of late night talk shows, Johnny Carson, laughing to tears when Dangerfield was his guest? Dangerfield was so well loved that UCLA's Division of Neurosurgery named a suite of operating rooms after him and gave him the "Rodney Respect Award." Dangerfield's status was elevated to some pretty rarified company. Other recipients of the "Rodney Respect Award" include Tim Allen, Jim Carrey, Louie Anderson, Bob Saget, Chelsea Handler, Chuck Lorre, Kelsey Grammer, Brad Garrett, Jon Lovitz and Jamie Masada. Sure, My 5 Wives isn't Caddyshack or Easy Money. And yes, the plot is a tad tenuous. But that doesn't stop Dangerfield from zinging out classic one liners. Indeed, any film with Dangerfield in it immediately became a stage for his outrageous improvisations, and no film escaped his witty humor. For this alone, My 5 Wives deserves "a lot more respect."

This was a watchable movie, but plot was a little weak and most of the jokes were from some of Rodney's earlier movies. With that said, it was worth the time to watch. I gave this a 5 out of 10. So basically, its one of those movies that you do not go out of your way to see, but if you find it on the tube, take a chance.

If you seen Rodney Dangerfield's previous movies and performances, you'll recognise several of the jokes made in this odd piece of dreck. Written like a sitcom, this movie fails to strike any sort of likeable chord throughout, from the self-help doctor played by the aways sexy-as-chopped liver Molly Shannon to the 'I'm fat, and therefore funny' John Linette. The 5 wives themselves are likeable enough, and if this had been done as a pilot for an action-adventure series, it might have worked. Instead, it comes off like a male fantasy that's trying hard not to be politically incorrect.

When Rodney Dangerfield is on a roll, he's hilarious. In My 5 Wives, he's not on a roll. The timing of the one-liners is off, but they're the best thing going for the movie. The five women who play the wives don't add up to one whole actress between them. The plot is very weak. Even the premise is pretty weak; there are a few jokes about having multiple wives, but the situation has little to do with anything else in the movie. Most of the movie could play the same way even if Rodney's character had only one wife, so the premise seems more like an old man's fantasy than a key part of the comedy. Another old man's fantasy: we're supposed to accept that Rodney's character is an athletic skier. Jerry Stiller seems to be phoning in his role just to do a buddy a favor, and the rest of the name actors must simply be desperate for work. The odd nods to political correctness later in the movie don't really do anything for the movie. For those who like their movies politically correct, the non-PC humor is still there in the first place, and the seeming apologies for it still don't get the point. For those who hate seeing a movie cave in to political correctness, the PC add-ins are just annoying digressions. This has to be the mildest R-rated movie I've ever seen. There are some racy jokes, and the bedroom scenes would have made shocking TV 40 years ago, but that's about it. Maybe it was the topless men (kidding). The DVD features interviews where the cast members seem to find depth and importance in this movie and in their roles. I kept wondering if they were serious or kidding. They seem to be serious, but I kept thinking, "They must be kidding!" There's also a peculiar disclaimer suggesting that since the movie never actually names the Mormons or the Church of Latter-Day Saints, that somehow it's not about them. Never mind that the movie features a polygamous religion in Utah, and makes reference to Brigham Young. In short, My 5 Wives was a disappointment. I was hoping for Rodney on a roll, but the best I can say for the movie is that Rodney was looking pretty good for a guy who was pushing 80 at the time.

As much as I love Rodney Dangerfield, this was a terrible movie. The plot was kind of a holistic rip off of various movies, but unfortunately they forgot to rip off any good jokes. In addition it was annoying and boring and that's being kind. If you're looking for a good laugh, rent a copy of Private Parts.

This movie was so bad, outdated and stupid that I had rough times to watch it to the end. I had seen this Rodney guy in Natural Born Killers and I thought he was funny as hell in it, but this movie was crap. The "jokes" weren't funny, actors weren't funny, anything about it wasn't even remotely funny. Don't waste your time for this! Only positive things about this were the beautiful wives :) and Molly Shannon who I'm sure tried her best, but the script was just too awful. That's why I rated it "2" instead of "1", but it's definitely one of the worst films I've ever seen.

Jerry Stiller was a funny character..... And Molly Shannon rocked as usual. If you aren't a Rodney Dangerfield fan, then this probably won't be as funny to you.... Its almost as funny as Meet Wally Sparks...

Rodney Dangerfield is a great. He has done a lot of great works. But this one....is awful. The whole plot is whack. It could have been much better. The jokes in the movie aren't funny....their stupid. This was very not so hilarious. He can do much better than this.

After his third divorce, wealthy wise-cracking Rodney Dangerfield (as Monte Peterson) buys resort property in Redwood Springs, Utah. He is surprised to find the "property" comes with three wives. An additional deal nets Mr. Dangerfield two additional wives. They dress conservatively, but are young and sexy. Later on, you will see them in bikinis. Dangerfield finds it hard to keep up with the sex demands. He also must convert to the Mormon-type religion, which means no smoking, drinking or gambling... Dangerfield's land developing rival is John Byner (as Preston Gates). With help from overweight assistant John Pinette (as Stewart), Mr. Byner tries to catch Dangerfield violating the laws of the church. Loud-mouthed Andrew Dice Clay (as Tony Morano), feminist writer Molly Shannon (as Barbara Van Dyke) and Godfather-type Jerry Stiller (as Giovanni) become involved. Paul McGillion has a good bit as the waiter turning lawyer, and there are a couple of crude laughs, in this otherwise embarrassing comedy. *** My 5 Wives (9/8/00) Sidney J. Furie ~ Rodney Dangerfield, John Byner, John Pinette, Andrew Dice Clay

My first introduction to Rodney Dangerfield was `CaddyShack'. He was hilarious and witty. My 5 Wives is a watchable movie but does tend to be a stage for Rodney's old ‘one liners'. I had the occasional chuckles, but overall this one may get flack from some quarters for its subject matter. Rodney (twice divorced) moves to `Poligomyville' Utah to buy land to build a ski resort. On purchasing the land he finds himself the proud owner of 5 new wives also. That's right, the proud owner. When the original owner of the land died, the new owner gets his wives as part of the deal. Fortunately for Rodney (now well into his later years), all of his new wives are gorgeous 20 somethings. If you like risque', slapstick boy/girl gags, this one is for you. If you're looking for something with a little more to it. Leave it.