First Family (1980) Reviews

• Pretty dreadful

  preppy-32005-02-14

  This seemed like it couldn't miss--a satire on the First Family with Bob Newhart as the President, Madeline Kahn as a drunk First Lady and First Daughter Gilda Radner as a nymphomaniac. And it was written and directed by Buck Henry. Unfortunately this is a shambles. The cast is game and does what it can--but the script isn't funny. The jokes are lame and infantile and, at one point, has everybody in ridiculous costumes for a costume party (like that's supposed to be funny). There are a few good moments here and there (that's why I'm giving it a 2) but mostly the movie just lays there. Towards the end it got almost painful to see this talented cast struggling with a lousy script. It's to everybody's credit that they come through this with their dignity intact. You'll notice Bob Newhart or Buck Henry have never even mentioned this film. That should tell you something. This movie should rightfully be forgotten. A must-miss.

• Not even Madeline Kahn and Gilda Radner can save this one!

  DomCom19572005-09-22

  First Family is a waste of time. It has a couple of funny moments, but thats about it. Buck Henry directs Bob Newhart, Harvey Korman, Rip Torn, Richard Benjamin, Fred Willard, Bob Dishy and two of the funniest ladies who ever lived Gilda Radner and my personal favorite movie actress of comedy Madeline Kahn. Ironically they play mother and daughter and in real life were only 5 years apart in age. Another sad thing is they were also very good friends and died of the same disease ovarian cancer just ten years apart. They deserved to be given a better script worth their extraordinary talents. On Saturday night live they were given better scripts. The only reason to watch this is because its the only film they ever made together. They could and should have been a female comedy team. But this is all we have.

• THE worst!

  equipage2003-07-06

  Some of my favorite comedic actors, in possibly the worst movie I have ever seen. Half way through I had to walk out of the theater, to relieve my pain! That is the first and only time I have ever done that in 50 years. I just never hated a movie that much before, or since. Buck Henry is such a smart comedy writer; just don't know what happened here...

• Great Cast, Lousy Script

  tgibbs2792003-10-24

  This had the potential to be a great movie. The cast is first rate, Buck Henry CAN write a good script (though he didn't do it here), and the basic idea is sound. But the storyline is bad. (Even a comedy has to have a interesting plot that makes sense.) And the script is weak, with too many unfunny scenes and jokes. That's really the bottom line: this movie just isn't funny. It's a shame, because this is a first-rate cast. Bob Newhart is one of my all-time favorite comedians. Madeline Kahn, Gilda Radner, Richard Benjamin, Fred Willard, Harvey Korman, and the rest deserve better than bathroom jokes. Newhart is the best thing in the movie. He's actually quite believable as the president of the United States. Usually, fictional presidents are played by the same type of actors: Hal Holbrook, Gregory Peck, etc. The mild-mannered Newhart is a nice change of pace. I wish someone had really written a solid, funny script for him. With the right material, either in a movie or a sitcom, Newhart could be a very funny fictional president. I hate to keep belaboring the point, but this movie was bad when it came out of the typewriter. Bad script equals bad movie. Still, I don't hate watching it, because of Bob Newhart. As I watch it, I keep imagining the better movie that COULD have been.

• Bad SNL skit wastes effort of fine cast

  adam361999-08-04

  Sometimes I awake in a cold sweat screaming, the nightmare always starts the same... I am watching First Family. This movie is so bad nearly twenty years later I am still upset at its mere mention. A waste of a great cast and an idea that while not academy award potential had some promise. My vote for worst movie ever...