When secretive new neighbors move in next door, suburbanite Ray Peterson and his friends let their paranoia get the best of them as they start to suspect the newcomers of evildoings and commence an investigation. But it's hardly how Ray, who much prefers drinking beer, reading his newspaper and watching a ball game on the tube expected to spend his vacation.
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The 'Burbs is a hilarious, dark comedy directed by Joe Dante (Gremlins, The Howling) and released in 1989. Ray Peterson (Tom Hanks) is an average father living in the suburbs. He and his neighbors Art Weingartner (Rick Ducommum) and Mark Rumsfield (Bruce Dern) begin to spy on their odd neighbors, the Klopeks, who are only seen at night. This movie is such a fun time and such an underrated film. This is a classic in my books and I revisit it every year. 10/10
Honestly this probably was one of the worst movies I've seen in a long time and we turned it off probably before the halfway point. Just bad jokes, annoying laughing, over use of music to underscore everything. I'm not a fan of Tom Hanks but he was once funny. Not in this film. Lots of actors from the '80s but a really bad story line not worth your time.
"The 'Burbs" (1989) is a comedic mystery thriller about a typical suburban neighborhood where something is off about the new neighbors. The film is from the perspective of Ray Peterson, played by Tom Hanks, as he tries to enjoy his time off and deescalate the neighborhood snoops, Mark and Art played by Bruce Dern and Rick Ducommun respectively. I love Tom Hanks, but I am not a fan of this film. The film is put together well, but the character of Art was extremely annoying to me and really turned me off the film. The editing and pacing flowed well with the story. However, the film is solid for the late 80s.The director, Joe Dante, stayed true to his horror comedy style where most of the comedy isn't in your face like "Gremlins," which I loved. He effortlessly snuck in little bits of comedy without completely taking away from the mystery, thriller concept. I was initially unsure of the point of this film, but the reason is there are two. Don't be a nosy neighbor and revealing the second which equates to the payoff would spoil the film. Overall, this film is solid and if you can ignore Art, you may be able to enjoy it.
The 'Burbs is a weird film, but you gotta give it to the director of Gremlins and Innerspace for the way he did the main conversations throughout it. There are a lot of funny bits in this thriller/comedy. For one it's Walter Seznick's Dog Queenie. I don't know about it, but the dog just makes me crack up when they show him on the screen. Another thing are the less focused parts, like when Rick Ducommon's character, Art Weingartner, grabs a handful of dog chow at the dinner table when Carrie Fisher's character, Carol Peterson, grabs an orange, then she feeds the chow to the dog. A few of the stuff is suspenseful and just...weird at the same time. With such a strong cast and veteran director (Joe Dante), "The 'Burbs" should have been a better movie. The weak link here is the writing. It's a great film, but it's very overlooked.
