Funny Farm

Chevy Chase was one of the biggest comedy stars of the 80's. One of his funniest comedies from this time period gets sorely overlooked, 1988's Funny Farm.

Chase stars as Andy Farmer, a sports writer who decides to move him and his wife to the country so he can write the great American novel. What seems ideal quickly turns into a nightmare for the couple. They aren't liked by the town folk, their dog keeps running away, and finding a dead body buried on their property is just the first of their problems. Andy suffers from writers block while his wife Elizabeth, Madolyn Smith, get's a knack for writing and is pretty talented at it. This leads to tension in the marriage and what they thought would be a quaint life turns into a living hell.

Chase turns in a great performance, kind of a less goofy Clark Griswold. Smith is also great and a very talented actress. I would have loved to see more of her in other films, but sadly she retired from acting not too long after Funny Farm.

This was the last film to be directed by the great George Roy Hill. Hill always had a nice touch with his comedies. He kept things more grounded in reality than over the top gags, which works in this films favor.

It was based on a novel by Jay Cronley, who also wrote the great, but under appreciated, Bill Murray comedy Quick Change.

In some ways, Funny Farm is like an episode of Newhart. The big fish moves to the Norman Rockwellesque small pond and doesn't fit into his surroundings. Funny Farm is funny indeed.

It's available on dvd.