This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.
Break a Leg
Plot Overview
Easy NYC investment
attorney Diane Lightson (Demi Moore) was devastated when
a client in Atlantic City took advantage and then wouldn't take her
calls. At a penthouse party she begs a ride there the next day
from financial publisher Chris Thorne (Chevy Chase) in his cherry
Beemer 733i. Mike (Peter Aykroyd) the knowing doorman produces the
wheels, and Brazillionaire siblings Fausto (Taylor Negron) &
Renalda Squiriniszu (Bertila Damas) join them, bringing
a picnic lunch. They divert from the NJ Turnpike to eat it along a tributary.
Chris drifts through a stop sign in an unfamiliar
town and Valkenvania's Chief Constable Dennis
Valkenheiser (John Candy) pulls him over and leads them to
their imposing courthouse. His grandfather the
Reeve—what we'd call a J.P.—Alvin Valkenheiser (Dan Aykroyd)
is presiding. He'd suffered shell shock in the Great War, then
graduated in engineering from a podunk university, and now has his
place all tricked out for bizarre incarceration. He lays it on
thick. Think along the lines of author Kevin Wilson:
She opened a refrigerator that was as big as a car and removed a huge package of bacon. She slapped so many strips in a pan; it must have been a pound. Without ever looking at me, she sliced a loaf of fresh bread and put two pieces in a toaster that looked like both the fifties and the future. (42)
He harbors a grudge against bankers, and Diane suggests, “This is really a case of a dysfunctional family. You should consider therapy.” Right.
Chris has just gotten
over his divorce of four years ago, and he encourages Diane to move
on from her disappointment as well. They make a good
looking couple and share common interests. Now they are sharing an
adventure. The Justice of the Peace does perform weddings, and
they've in fact brought two witnesses with them. If you see wedding
bells on the horizon, you won't be half wrong.
Ideology
The Reeve at 106 has no male heir to fill his chair. His loyal
grandson is like to split, and his two younger ones Bobo (also
Dan Aykroyd) and Lil' Debbull are mutants on account of him
procreating too late in life. His only hope is in his mute
granddaughter Eldona (John Candy in drag.) He needs to find a
“husband to my granddaughter to be father to her child
and heir to my seat.” But she's not so marriageable on
account of there being so much of her to love. She has her eye on
Chris, and his traffic penalty (“Come on, death for running
a stop sign?”) is just the leverage (“And for
being a banker!”) the old man needs (“That's the double
death.”) It being “death or Eldona” Chris makes
a wise choice.
The boilerplate vows are sound: “The district and commonwealth hereby duly recognizing the will and wish of a man and woman entering into the holy and life-binding state of matrimony herewith confirm that you Eldona Valkenheiser take to husband one Christopher Thorne and you Christopher Thorne do take to wife one Eldona Valkenheiser.” She signs and he stammers, “I do.” The Reeve declares, “This office so recognizes and certifies this union and declares you are now wedded man and wife.” There's an unenthusiastic kissing of the bride, passed off as “wedding night jitters.”
So all that remains is the witnesses … they need two of them. Fausto & Renalda are long gone. Diane is out back minding Bobo & Debbull (“We're not allowed in the house”) who being high school dropouts are too young (and mentally incompetent) anyway. They do have two constables on hand but they are officers of the court, and as Augustine pointed out, marriage starts a domestic church, and the First Amendment prohibits the state from establishing a religion. The constables cannot be used if this marriage is to be valid in the eyes of God and the church, not just a domestic partnership with whatever label it's given. It had been pointed out that Dennis needs a vacation, so he would be off duty on his break, right? When he's gone, he's off as, “My duties end right here at this bench,” but when he's there, he's official be he on his break.
Fortunately, the judge had just dismissed charges
against a “gaggle of high school dropout
musicians” so he tells them, “There's another matter
before the shire court this evening and youse all might be able to
help.” They serve as witnesses.
These machinations could provide an anthropologist rich grist for the mill. Consulting scientist Marvin Harris on What is Marriage? we read:
One of the problems with the proposition that the nuclear family is the basic building block of all domestic groups is that it rests on the assumption that widely different forms of matings can be called “marriage.” Yet in order to cover the extraordinary diversity of mating behavior characteristic of the human species, the definition of marriage has to be made so broad as to be confusing. —Since the term marriage is too useful to drop altogether, a more narrow definition seems appropriate: Marriage denotes the behavior, sentiments, and rules concerned with coresident heterosexual mating and reproduction in domestic contexts.
To avoid offending people by using marriage exclusively for coresident heterosexual domestic mates, a simple expedient is available. Let such other relationships be designated as “noncoresident marriages”, “man-man marriages”, “woman-woman marriages,” or by any other appropriate specific nomenclature. It is clear that these matings have different ecological, demographic, economic, and ideological implications, so nothing is to be gained by arguing about whether they are “real” marriages. (317–18)
The way this story is heading it would be no surprise if Chris and Diane ended up cohabiting together while he and Eldona were in a “noncoresident marriage.” Paul wrote, (1Cor. 7:10-11) “Let not the wife depart from her husband: But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.” Maybe in—God help us—some future sequel, Chris will man up and do what's right by Eldona.
Production Values
“”
(1991) was directed by Dan Aykroyd. It was written by Peter Aykroyd
and Dan Aykroyd. It stars Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, John Candy and
Deni Moore. These seasoned thespians are in good form here. The
supporting actors shone as well.
The movie was certified PG–13. The mansion was
“like extremely draculated.” Prison delicacies included
such fare as ant logs. The humor was very dark. Music was piped in
as well as played live. The production values were tops across the
board. Runtime is 1½ hours.
Review Conclusion w/a Christian's Recommendation
When I was cleaning dorms at
our local, federally subsidized university, we weren't allowed to
do campaigning or proselytizing. My mindful supervisor wouldn't
allow me to go on my break to help itinerant preacher Brother Jed
field questions in the free speech area. My office worker friend
there would refrain from using his breaks to march with his
daughter going by in her climate change protests. The staff of the
J.P. was prohibited
from being official witnesses to weddings held there in the
courthouse. If any were tempted to violate that rule on her
break, I'm sure knowledgeable citizens in a college town could
set her straight. Movies help with our conceptions of boy-girl
relations, and this one doesn't fall short.
Its humor is very dark, the setting silly, and the pace relentless. I enjoyed it ever so much, but I don't think everyone will.
Movie Ratings
Action factor: Edge of your seat action-packed. Suitability for Children: Suitable for children 13+ years with guidance. Special effects: Well done special effects. Video Occasion: Fit For a Friday Evening. Suspense: Keeps you on the edge of your seat. Overall movie rating: Five stars out of five.
Works Cited
Scripture quoted from the King James Version. Pub. 1611, rev. 1769. Software.
Harris, Marvin. CULTURE, PEOPLE, NATURE: An Introduction to General Anthropology fifth edition. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1988. Print.
Wilson, Kevin. Nothing to See Here. Copyright © 2019 by Kevin Wilson. New York: HarperCollins Pub., first edition. Print.
bibles.n7nz.org