The Dream Team (1989)
Review by HTQ4
Film:
DVD:

Written by Jon Connolly and David Loucka
Directed by Howard Zieff
Starring Michael Keaton, Christopher Lloyd, Peter Boyle, Stephen Furst, Dennis Boutsikaris, and Lorraine Bracco

Features:

• Original Theatrical Trailer
  

Released by: Universal
Rating: PG-13
Region: 1
Anamorphic: Yes

My Advice: Wait for the Special Edition, then buy it

Billy (Keaton), Henry (Lloyd), Jack (Boyle), and Albert (Furst) are finally getting to a field trip from the mental hospital where they have been spending quite a bit of their time. It seems that Dr. Weitzman (Boutsikaris) has decided to take their therapy group to a New York Yankees game. As should have been expected, this group gets derailed in New York City when Dr. Weitzman is kidnapped by a bunch of corrupt cops--he just happened to stumble into the middle of a huge deal they had going down. So, now it's up to these four social outcasts to find a way to work together and get their doctor back and then get back to the hospital in time for their Jell-O.

Wow. This is just a cornucopia of comedy genius. I think the thing which makes this film work is that all of the characters are played very real rather than the actors simply playing at types. Keaton is over-the-top as usual, and it works very well for him in this role. Lloyd could play his part in his sleep if he really wanted to, but he resists the temptation to phone it in and plays it without flinching. Boyle and Furst are simply wonderful in their roles, too (see the scene where Boyle steps in to the church and begins to undress in front of the congregation claiming to be Jesus Christ). The movie really revolves around these four characters and anyone else who is in the movie seems to know and understand this and thus they stay out of their way. The script is not rocket science and it's very formulaic, even for the late 80s, and in the hands of a lesser cast, it would have fallen flat on its face. Thankfully, it wasn't, so it didn't.

The DVD is just a bitter disappointment. I would have hoped to have gotten all of these guys back into the studio to record a commentary track or something. At the very least, they could have gotten the director in to record something. How about some of the "vintage" behind-the-scenes stuff from the late 80s? There had to be some kind of interview segment or one of those featurettes that were edited together for one of the major movie networks. Otherwise, why not just interview those guys now? Sadly, since this isn't exactly A-list from the back catalog, it probably wasn't deemed worthy of shelling out the dough necessary. There's always hope for the future, though.

That's why my recommendation is to wait for them to put out a Special Edition disc of this one before shelling out the dough to buy it. The movie is quite good, yes, but it needs a little something extra to put it on your shelf permanently.