Opportunity Knocks

source: Opportunity Knocks

Donald Petrie has directed plenty of movies you may know, even if you don't know him. Mystic Pizza, Grumpy Old Men, Richie Rich, My Favorite Martian, Miss Congeniality, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days...he's made some memorable films. This effort is from the time when Dana Carvey was a star on Saturday Night Live, but before Wayne's World made him a bigger star. Carvey plays con man Eddie Farrell, who is working a scam with his friend Lou Pesquino. They sneak into an empty house and discover that the owner is out of the country and the house sitter can't make it. After a gang of thugs get sent by mobster Sal Nichols (Detective Hugh Lubic from Masters of the Universe and Strickland from Back to the Future), the two split up and Eddie takes on the identity of the home's real owner, Jonathan Albertson. Soon, Eddie is growing close to businessman Milt Malkin (Robert Loggia) and his wife Mona, as well as their daughter Annie (Julia Campbell, the mean girl from Romy and Michele's High School Reunion). It all starts as a con, but soon Eddie is falling for her. This is a movie packed with actors that you rush to IMDB to look up, like Milo O'Shea as Eddie's uncle Max (he was Durand-Durand in Barbarella), the first acting role of jazz musician John M. Watson Sr. (he's the bartender in Groundhog Day) and Del Close, who was one of the most influential people in the history of American improv. He's also Reverend Meeker in the vastly underrated 1988 remake of The Blob. I really need to get to a Robert Loggia week on this site, even if nobody but me wants to talk about how great he is in movies like the Independence Day movies (actually, he's the only good part of the sequel other than the fact that it mercifully ended), Lost Highway, Big (one could argue that he's playing the same exact role from that film in Opportunity Knocks) and The Believers. You may be surprised - certainly, many people watching this and reviewing it on Letterboxd are - that in 1990, we didn't have the cultural sensitivities toward stereotypical accents. Just keep that in mind and understand that this is a goofy comedy that just wants to entertain you.

Carvey stars in this fun comedy of mistaken indentities and big money. Carvey does many SNL-style characters and skits and carries the film, with help from Loggia, Graff and old pro Milo O'Shea.

Dana Carvey does his SNL skits and tries acting in the last 20 minutes or so. A semi-decent storyline is irrelevant for his humor, which is OK. I like Carvey and his impressions - there's plenty here - but I'd rather watch him on TV than in this movie. It's a little fun, but the hook towards the end is more than a little jarring and signals that the fun is over.

I just saw the film "Opportunity Knocks" for the first time last night. I've seen it twice since then. This film just proves how talented Dana Carvey is. He provided laughs and fun throughout the movie. Being a fan of "Saturday Night Live" since the first time I saw it, Dana Carvey has been the funniest (in my opinion) ever to star on the show. During the movie, Mr. Carvey portrays his oh-so-famous impersonation of George Bush (no one could do it better). I think "Opportunity Knocks" is a great film and you can't watch it without smiling at the things Mr. Carvey does. So, for a fun time and lotsa laughs, you should go see it.

To cut to the chase, "Opportunity Knocks" was funny about half-way through, but then it became tiresome and predictable. Dana Carvey plays Eddie Farrell, the world's most successful conman. Well, not really. He's a good conman, but he isn't rich. He and his co-conman Lou (Todd Graff) have been down on their luck lately. But things really escalate downwards when a vicious loan shark comes looking for the men. So they rob a home to get some quick cash. While they do so, an answering machine on a desk clicks on. Eddie and Lou listen to find out that not only is the owner away for a month or two, but that the person supposed to be watching the house has called saying he won't be able to come over to the home, due to a new job in another part of the country. So Eddie and Lou relax in the rich man's home until Milt Malkin (Robert Loggia) shows up--president of a hair-blowing company. Milt is a distant relative of the homeowner, yet he has never seen him before. Therefore, Milt mistakes Eddie for Jonathan, the owner of the home. Eddie, thinking this is all great, plays as the houseowner...and the shenanigans begin... "Opportunity Knocks" is one of those movies with a decent premise, and some typical eighties' comedies laughs. But even the half-baked laughs soon evaporate as the plot becomes tiring and thin. There gets to be a certain point of Eddie pretending to be someone he isn't that becomes unfunny. "Opportunity Knocks" is Dana Carvey's first main starring role. We know what this means. Somewhere in there they're going to fit in a Bush impersonation. Luckily, they do it quite well, and it proves to be one of the most interesting and amusing, if not hysterical scenes in the film. "Opportunity Knocks," despite some average laughs, has a certain charm to it that is attracting. Perhaps it is the characters. Perhaps it is just the style of the film. I'm not sure. It's just a very charming film. Technically it is very typical, but if you look deeper it has a strange charm to it that is hard not to like. And besides, who cannot like Dana Carvey? Oops, spoke too soon--"Master of Disguise" just popped to mind. I actually was beginning to really get into this film, before the last quarter or so that is so predictable and stereotypical for the genre that it was quite disappointing. In the end, "Opportunity Knocks" has some good potential, ultimately some good laughs, never reaches its full potential, yet is still charming and worth watching. How's that for a confusing review? 3/5 stars - John Ulmer

Dana Carvey is one of the last great actors who came from Saturday Night Live. There are now only about 2 or 3 that are worth seeing their movies. This is classic of Carvey. It kept me laughing all the way through even though they tried to make it a sappy romance at one point. The cons were funny and so was his character. If you like seeing Carvey then this film is for you. If you don't I would suggest watching something different or some old SNL to see what he is like. Good movie all around I believe though.

If you like Dana Carvey, you'll dig this movie. If you don't, well, then it's pretty lame. But as a vehicle for Mr. Carvey, this story of a con-man weasling his way into an affluent family in order to fleece them, only to fall in love with their daughter, it's even better than it needed to be. The lines and scenes are all pretty good, if not somewhat non-offensive and restrained. The county club lunch with the old couple is classic and Carvey is about as charming as he gets. The wine ordering scene and the expression on his face when he finally takes a sip of the Chateau Lafite is practically worth the price of admission alone. "Hey Milt, think he's gonna come by and burp me after lunch?" Robert Loggia is also excellent as the successful but down-to-Earth CEO who is charmed by Dana's rough edges. Corny, predictable, and yet a totally worthwhile way to spend two hours with one of SNL's favorite sons.

I'm the first to be skeptical of any movie like this. In fact, most movies I watch these days involves at least one visit to IMDb.COM first. But some movies, no matter how accurately they may be reviewed for technical merits just can't review the sentimental or personal value they may have to you. This is one of them. Oh, trust me - I've watched my share of movies like this that have left me more than high and dry - but this one is different (at least for me). I've always felt Dana Carvey was a special comedian and has never reached his full potential as an actor. However poor the writing, or perhaps his acting, the movie is engaging enough to keep this harden skeptic enthralled for greater than 90mins. That's saying a lot. This movie will surely not go down in history as a one of the 'greats' of comedy - but is well worth an evening if you're just looking for something funny, heart-touching and romantic.

I loved that script a lot. Supposedly it's predictable (double identities, love story, from zero to hero, you can con them some time but not all the time, then happy end, the good wins), however it managed to find a creative way to do everything. Many moments are priceless; the one in the fancy restaurant's bathroom, the president Bush con, and the last romantic con also. The way how they got rid of the bad guy was intelligent, hilarious and so cinematic. And by the way, after one year, see how another movie about another conman, (The Distinguished Gentleman - 1992), would use the same trick of disguising like bug-killers, having the desk of some supervisor for a while, to pull a scheme on powerful bad guys! Dana Carvey is a handsome gifted comedian, who could have hit it big in Hollywood, so what did happen? Comparing this movie to his later one (The Master of Disguise), 12 years later, is as comparing Chaplin's (City Lights) to (Countess From Hong Kong)! In just one decade, Carvey, who according to (Opportunity..) could have been cast in comedies and romantic comedies, turned from Opportunity Knocks to Opportunity Knocked for six! Certainly, big part of the answer lies in the script's power. Notice well how, here, the script utilizes Carvey's famous routine of SNL as Bush so cleverly, while in (The Master..) the whole matter shrinks into detached silly impersonations, with nothing else! Julia Campbell had a magical, innocent, presence. She was a gift from the magical innocent 1980s itself. Where did she go either? Robert Loggia is a name that makes me happy whenever I read it on any opening credits. Review the movie's elements; cinematography, editing, music,.. etc. It's smooth, cute and smart. The feel good movies of the 1980s were the nicest. Still the thing I love the most is how this one has its own, so wicked, theories where all the advertisement's men are originally conmen or must be, all the rock music is about shouting anyway, and - my favorite - all the great decisions in life we take in the bathroom. How true! PS: This is my review number 900. I Hope to find love, someday soon.