Danny DeVito seems to have a very dark, and very enjoyable sense of humour. He pairs up with Billy Crystal and Anne Ramsey, along with Star Trek’s Kate Mulgrew, Rob Reiner Branford Marsalis, Kim Greist, and Olivia Brown to deliver a fantastically dark comedy that seems to deliver a nice nod to Hitchcock and also the struggle of the writer and the blank page.

When his ex-wife, Margaret (Mulgrew) steals his novel and publishes it as her own, Larry (Crystal) is stuck trying to carve out a new story, and working as a college teacher on creative writing. In his class is the brow-beaten mother’s boy, Owen (DeVito), who wants to tell his own story, but his mother (Ramsey) is abusive and keeps he and what little ego he has in check.

When discussing his work, which interferes with Larry’s blossoming romance with Beth (Greist), Larry tells Owen about ‘motivation’ and alibis’ and recommends checking out a Hitchcock film. When he screens Strangers on a Train, Owen misunderstands Larry’s tutelage and thinks he wants Owen to kill Margaret, and Larry will take care of Owen’s mother.

From there it’s buckle up and hold on as the laughs come fast and furious and dare you to indulge your darker humours as Larry finds himself the prime suspect in Margaret’s murder when she goes missing on Kuai cruise.

DeVito and Crystal make a fantastic pairing and Ramsey was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, and both she and DeVito were nominated for Golden Globes as well.

Each of the characters gets great bits allowing them to shine, and the banter between Owen and Larry is delightful. The pacing is perfect, and it’s a highly enjoyable romp that seems to take the premise of Strangers on a Train and transplant it into the real world, with real characters, though Owen is, admittedly, a little dim.

There are great moments and wonderful pieces of dialogue, and I love how all of the characters interact and how the relationships between all of them are brought to life by the script, performances, and the moments captured on film.

Oh, and DeVito as director delivers some wonderful transitions from scene to scene, he has a very enjoyable visual sense, and he appears to love the mystery genre, and excels at comedy. The really sad thing was, I didn’t appreciate this one as much as I should have, and I hadn’t seen it since the 80s. This time out, LOVED it!