Drew Turney
Dan Aykroyd the star and Tom Hanks the second billing comic sidekick? It was the end of the salad days of 1980s comedy, when the original SNL alumnus were the crown princes of the genre.
The star billing was the result of both rising and falling recognition. Aykroyd was on the downhill slide from his ”Ghostbusters” days to where he is now – occasional appearances in oddball dark comedies.
And Hanks was decidedly understated. At the time it just looked like he’d lost the manic energy that he’d bought to the screwball genre in films like ”Bachelor Party”, but it was actually the earliest days of his morphing into the major dramatic Hollywood star he is today.
Script-wise, the film was a big loss. Nothing felt right, the humour was all misfired, the occasional seriousness out of place. It was just a stupid buddy/cop comedy with touches of the iconic TV series (like Aykroyd’s dry, Joe Friday voiceover) tacked over the top.
Blu-ray : The Shout Factory release features a very pleasing 1080p transfer and DTS-HD soundtrack and comes complete with some newly-crafted extras including an interview with co-star Alexandra Paul and an audio commentary by Pop Culture historian Russell Dyball. Vintage features on here include the original trailer and promos, photos and a BTS featurette with the original stars.
