The Man With One Red Shoe

I miss the goofy Tom Hanks from the 80's. Sure he is taken seriously now, but his films from back then had a silly charm that was hard to resist. One of the better ones that doesn't get a lot of attention nowadays is 1985's The Man With One Red Shoe.

Cooper, Dabney Coleman, a CIA deputy director is gunning for a promotion to director, a position held by Ross, Charles Durning. Ross knows that Cooper wants him out the picture and is trying to get dirt on him, so he hatches a scheme to have a decoy throw Cooper off his path. Ross has his best man Brown, Edward Hermann, to pick some random person from a crowd at the airport to be their decoy. He picks concert violinist Richard Drew, Hanks, because he is wearing one red shoe due to a prank pulled on him by his best friend Morris, Jim Belushi. Cooper has his team, led by Maddy, Lori Singer, trail him and see what they can dig up. Richard is oblivious to what is going on around him, even when things seem to get weirder and weirder.

This remake of the French farce The Tall, Blond Man With One Black Shoe is a lot of fun. Hanks is likable as always in the lead, and is aided by a strong and funny supporting cast that also includes, Carrie Fisher, Gerrit Graham, Tom Noonan, and David L. Lander.

Hanks has bashed the movie since it's release, calling it an unfocused mess. I don't really think it's unfocused, but you do have to pay a little more attention to it than most comedies since there is a lot happening on screen. It's busy but entertaining.

This is a funny, smart spy comedy.

It's available on dvd.