The 1980s were a time when materialism reigned supreme. Madonna sang about being a material girl, and yuppies were on the rise. The materialism of the 1980s is reflected in many of the films from that decade. The most notable is Oliver Stone's Wall Street, but there are a slew of movies whose premise revolves around the idea that money will solve all of your problems, not matter what those problems may be. Risky Business, Coming to America, Trading Places, Rain Man, and Scarface are all other examples of films focused on acquiring money to solve problems, rather than focusing on more human aspects of life like love and friendship. Brewster's Millions is just such a film; ostensibly, the film begins by trying to illustrate the evils of money and the ways it can destroy a person's life, but almost immediately after the scene that establishes this idea, the movie abandons it entirely and falls into another tired, though hilarious, tale about a man chasing a fortune.
Richard Pryor plays the eponymous Montgomery Brewster, a pitcher for a struggling minor league baseball team in Hackensack, New Jersey. One day, a private investigator brings Brewster to New York to meet with a powerful financial company. Brewster learns that he is the sole heir to the fortune of his deceased, estranged, great uncle. However, Brewster's uncle doesn't want him to waste his inheritance and wants to teach him the value of money. So in order to receive the full $300 million inheritance, Brewster must spend $30 million in 30 days. Of course there are a few rules: only 5% can be donated to charity, only 5% can be gambled away, it all must be spent on himself, he can't have any assets at the end of the 30 days other than the clothes on his back, he can't destroy anything inherently valuable, and he can't tell anyone about these conditions of his inheritance. If Brewster fails to spend the $30 million, he doesn't get to keep anything and receives no inheritance. There is another option, Brewster's great uncle offers him $1 million if he chooses to forgo the challenge entirely, of course you know he doesn't choose that option because then we wouldn't have a movie (plus, the movie is title Brewster's Millions, plural). If Brewster fails to spend the $30 million the remainder of the inheritance falls to the financial company introduced to us at the start, with the company's executives receiving a princely fee to manage it. What follows is a frenzy of spending. Brewster hires just about everyone he meets at exorbitant wages, he runs a joke campaign for mayor of New York, he throws an exhibition game between his minor league team and the New York Yankees, among other schemes. Brewster's friends, including the catcher from his baseball team, played by John Candy, become worried about Brewster and his apparent irresponsible spending habits. At the same time, Brewster learns that spending money without making money is easier said than done, his long shot bets make him an extra $1.5 million, and his investments on ludicrous business plans also see a return. It's the political campaign that turns things around for Brewster, settling out of court for slandering his opponents, buying ad space on national television, and paying FCC fines for his racy TV ads bring Brewster closer to his goal. However, the finance company have some schemes of their own to try to stop Brewster from earning his full inheritance.
I found this movie to be surprisingly funny. Pryor and Candy have a rapport that really feels like they are good friends, and they probably were. The whole premise lends itself to some hilarious situations, but Pryor's own comedic ability brings more comedy to the dialogue between the characters rather than having to rely on situational comedy. The plot is awfully predictable, and for much of the film it feels like watching sketch comedy as the film jumps from one situation to the other with little regard to what's going on plot-wise other than the overarching motivation to spend money. The soundtrack is also a ghastly synthesizer ridden mess that was common for all movies during the 80s. When I hear a soundtrack that is full of fake, electronically produced instrument noises I like to say that they were made by a man, a keyboard, and a dream. Richard Pryor is, as always, a delight, but despite a few very funny moments, this movie was a predictable mish-mash of 80s materialist conventions.
Rating: 4/10 - Immoral
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