The Linguini Incident

Today we lost one of the greats, musician, actor, and all out renaisance man David Bowie. Bowie was such a big influence on my life, so I thought I would take a look back at some forgotten gems of his from the silver screen. First up, 1991's The Linguini Incident.

Bowie stars as Monte, a charming British gent desperately in search of an American woman who will marry him. He tells ladies that it is so he can get a green card. After many rejections, he sets his sights on Lucy, Roseanne Arquette, a coworker at a swanky, Manhattan restaraunt. Lucy has dreams of being a female Houdini, and tells Monte she will think about it if he assists her in her magic routines. He agrees but with disasterous results. The two find out that they are kindred spirits in their hatred of the restaurant they work for. With the help of Lucy's kooky Vivian, Ezter Balint, the three decide to rob the posh establishment. But a monkey wrench gets thrown into the plan when Lucy finds out that Monte's green card predicament was just a ruse and there's a bigger situation in play.

I love this little movie. Bowie, who was a terrific actor in all of his movies, shows off his comedic side in this role. Arquette as Lucy is also good. She had a knack for quirk. As does Balint, who also gets to show a lighter side after heavier roles in Betty Blue and Night On Earth. The restaraunt owners are played by the legendary Buck Henry and Andre Gregory with just the right amount of snobbery. And I also should mention Marlee Matlin in a comedic turn as the restaurant cashier. Bowie's wife Iman and Julian Lennon pop up in cameos.

Directed by the under appreciated Richard Shepard, The Linguini Incident is a lot of quirky fun and a great showcase for Bowie and the other players.

Unfortunately it's unavailable on dvd or blu ray.