Brewster’s Millions
“I'm gonna teach you to hate spending money. I'm gonna make you so sick of spending money that the mere sight of it will make you wanna throw up!”
Baseball season is fully underway, and I just can’t get enough. So I offer up this little gem of a movie, Brewster’s Millions, to watch with the guys. It successfully combines the dreams-come-true elements of a sports film along with great wacky and hilarious comedic 1-2 combo punch of Richard Pryor and John Candy.
Monty (Richard Pryor) is an aging minor league ball player for the Hackensack Bulls who is just one pitch away from losing his only job. He suddenly inherits $30 million from his recently deceased great-uncle Rupert. Seems like a great story, until we reach the fine print: Monty has to spend all $30 million in 30 days in order to receive his true inheritance – $300 million! If he fails, he receives nothing and is left as penniless as the day he started.
Oh how my mind wandered when re-watching this film just the other day – daydreaming of expensive cars and a paid-off mortgage. Of the several flashes that zipped through my head, there were two that primarily stuck out. First of all, who doesn't wish they had more money than they could possibly spend, even if it’s relegated to 30 days? However, my wife and I agreed that if we were given the opportunity, we’d probably take the “chicken-out clause” that was also offered to Monty – the one million dollar walk away payoff instead.
Secondly, with as many times as I watched this growing up in my house, I swear (no pun intended) it must have been the Edited-for-TV version. As clean as this movie is thematically – especially compared to many other Richard Pryor projects – there is a fair amount of foul language. Now I’ll readily admit that I've become fairly calloused to most speech that should be followed with a bar of soap, but there was just enough that I was convinced I couldn't recommend this as a family film.
Brewster’s Millions is a morality tale of the simplest origins wrapped up in a baseball movie: money cannot buy you happiness. Apparently money can’t even buy you a win against the New York Yankees, but it can buy you a three-inning exhibition game against them. While the movie can lose some of its charm if watched too many times, the film’s core values are the importance of friendship over the temporary seduction of financial gain.
Film Geek Footnotes:
Baseball season is fully underway, and I just can’t get enough. So I offer up this little gem of a movie, Brewster’s Millions, to watch with the guys. It successfully combines the dreams-come-true elements of a sports film along with great wacky and hilarious comedic 1-2 combo punch of Richard Pryor and John Candy.
Oh how my mind wandered when re-watching this film just the other day – daydreaming of expensive cars and a paid-off mortgage. Of the several flashes that zipped through my head, there were two that primarily stuck out. First of all, who doesn't wish they had more money than they could possibly spend, even if it’s relegated to 30 days? However, my wife and I agreed that if we were given the opportunity, we’d probably take the “chicken-out clause” that was also offered to Monty – the one million dollar walk away payoff instead.
Secondly, with as many times as I watched this growing up in my house, I swear (no pun intended) it must have been the Edited-for-TV version. As clean as this movie is thematically – especially compared to many other Richard Pryor projects – there is a fair amount of foul language. Now I’ll readily admit that I've become fairly calloused to most speech that should be followed with a bar of soap, but there was just enough that I was convinced I couldn't recommend this as a family film.
Brewster’s Millions is a morality tale of the simplest origins wrapped up in a baseball movie: money cannot buy you happiness. Apparently money can’t even buy you a win against the New York Yankees, but it can buy you a three-inning exhibition game against them. While the movie can lose some of its charm if watched too many times, the film’s core values are the importance of friendship over the temporary seduction of financial gain.
Film Geek Footnotes:
- This is the seventh film adaptation of George Barr McCutcheon's 1902 novel Brewster’s Millions. All but two bared the same title; the exceptions were Miss Brewster’s Millions and Three on a Spree.
- Brewster's political party "None of the Above" (NOTA) is used in jurisdictions or organizations giving a voter who is against all choices on a ballot a chance to indicate his disapproval with all of the candidates in any voting system. The underlying principle is that legitimate consent requires the ability to withhold consent, allowing voters to withhold their consent in an election to office, just as they can by voting no on ballot questions.
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