Odd Jobs

Underrated comedy...RELEASE IT ON DVD!!!
This video came out in theatres in January 1985, but only made it to video in 1999...and is YET to be released on DVD. This situation needs to be fixed and SOON!

On to the review. First, the cast list...a very young Paul Reiser, Robert Townshend, Julianne Phillips, Rick Overton, Richard Dean Anderson (McGyver!), Scott McGinnis and Paul Provenza. A great collection of comics and actors that seem to keep popping up in TV/Movies pretty frequently.

The movie is about a group of college buddies and what they're going to do over the summer, namely work. They start out as waiters, caddies, nuclear vacuum cleaner salesman, and movers. Of course, all of these fall apart and Max (Reiser) decides to start his own business...Maximum Moving ("Max...M-A-X...that's me..."). Max learns a little about life and moving from Wylie (Leo Burmeister), who decides that Max is a "tutti-frutti" name and states, "From now on, your name is CHUCK". Max hits the road with Wylie while working for...

One of my favorite obscure movies!
Let me start this off by saying Odd Jobs in NOT a film for everybody. If you like very wacky comedies and don't mind your humor being dumb, you may enjoy Odd Jobs. The charm of the film is difficult to describe, as the story is rather absurd, the situations are ridiculous, the writing is unsophisticated, and the characters are one-dimensional. Put all those together in this right combination though, and you get a very funny and memorable movie. The hightlights of Odd Jobs are Jake Steinfeld (the Body By Jake guy) as a villanous yet funny henchman, and Leo Burmeister as Wylie, a redneck greasy trucker with a heart of gold. The cast of comedians each has a distinct character, and each has several funny scenes to shine in.

If you like Monty Python wackiness, and you like Airplane! type dumb yet funny comedy, give Odd Jobs a try. You may find a hidden comedy treasure.

Old School Funny
Not the funniest movie, but still a good laugh; especially considering it cost me about $5 including the shipping. I remember seeing this when Robert Townsend was still in front of the camera instead of behind it.

You have to love seeing Jake [yes the Body by Jake guy] running around in a french maid get-up and laughing his little weaselly laugh he does throughout this movie. And the entire scene that is a spoof on "Deliverance" is worth the price of admission alone!

I would still give this a 7.5 out of 10.

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