Michael G
Out of the hundreds of movies I've worked on in my forty-plus career, this one is definitely in my top five (maybe top three) movies that I'll enjoy just as a regular fan. In fact, it's one of the very few that I own a copy of on DVD or any other format!
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
07/01/23
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Audience Member
Funny and under appreciated. By no means a great movie, but I enjoy it now as much as I did in the 80s.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/09/23
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brad m
I don't know what to tell you guys. This one just always gives me a laugh... and at the end of the day what else can you ask for from a screwball comedy.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
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Audience Member
As far as I can tell Moving Violations holds a unique place in all of cinematic history: it's the only movie that I can think of in which not only the male and female leads, but also the primary antagonist are all played by lesser-known siblings of actors that were more popular at the time. Sure, from time to time you see a Frank Stallone or a Joey Travolta or even a Joe Estevez, but this movie has the grand slam trifecta of alternate universe casting. Our hero, Dana Cannon, is played by John Murray, younger brother of comedy god Bill, and if he wasn't directed to ape him he nevertheless does a damn good job of it; his love interest by Jennifer Tilly, whose younger sister Meg enjoyed a higher profile at the time-she was great in 'Psycho II', by the way; and the villain by James Keach, brother to Stacey Keach, who really got the short end of the stick, namewise. Inspired, or shameless? I'll leave that up to you. But if you can think of another movie that fits the same criteria, you let me know.
Moving Violations is an attempt by the creators of the Police Academy series to copy their cheapo knockoff of 'Stripes', or at least to cash in on a formula that made them a boatload of money the first time: A motely crew led by a wisecracking ne'er-do-well with a heart of gold manages to subert authority and prove their worth all at the same time. Except this time the action is transplanted from a police academy to...traffic school. I gotta say, on paper that doesn't sound half as good as it ended up being-not that it's any kind of masterwork.
The movie begins with our hero receiving the traffic violation that sends him to traffic school- from baddie Keach, natch. The picture on Murray's license is a stilll from 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom', a gag that immediately got me invested in the movie as a kid but I find is still sold well by Murray. A subsequent scene explains how overachiever Keach gets busted down to Traffic School duty on account of Murray's character, sowing the seeds for a 'Stripes'-esques dynamic between teacher and student. The two even square off in a restroom, exactly as in 'Stripes'. After that we are introduced to other supporting players via their own mishaps: Wendie Jo Sperber, Marty McFly's sis in 'Back to the Future'; '80s regular Brian Backer, best known as Ratner in 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High; octegenarian Nedra Volz (from every '80s TV show you've ever seen), whose blindness is played for a running gag that surprisingly works more often than it doesn't thanks to her timing and inflection. Her introduction includes a cameo by Clara "Where's the Beef" Peller, bringing her filmography up to an improbable two. As far as I know, anyway.
The rest of the ensemble we meet once class convenes: Tilly; Fred Willard-whose role as an automotive 'doctor' provides an amusing subplot wherein hypochondriac Sperber misunderstands his occupation; Ned Eisenberg-whose best role was in Walter Hill's underrated take on 'Yojimbo', 'Last Man Standing'- as a horror movie fanatic, in a role that pre-dates Dean Cameron's similar role in 'Summer School' by two years. And some other people who never did anything else.
Various things happen: Backer trysts with an underage girl, not knowing her true age. Sperber visits Willard's automotive 'clinic'. Keach and Sally Kellerman (as a kinky judge) conspire to fail the class in order to keep their cars and sell them for their own personal gain. Murray and Tilly (the ditziest rocket scientist ever, after Denise Richards in 'The World is not Enough') get funky in a NASA zero-g chamber. Some of these things are funny and some of them aren't, but everyone is clearly giving it the old college try. One scene that has always stood out to me is one in which Murray challenges Keach to an arm-wrestling match. The cinematography, the actors, the music-hell, even the weather -it all comes together for just a couple of minutes.
In the end, our rag-tag assemblage triumph over the forces of banality and they get their licenses back. I'm sure that was almost certainly a foregone conclusion for those of you who've read this far, but I just wanted to use the phrase 'forces of banality'. Sounds like a Wall of Voodoo album or something.
So, this an un even comedy marginally brought to life by some gifted comedic actors and a guy shamelessly aping his brother's style (though he does do a damn fine job of it, even bringing some boyish exuberence to the proceedings that the elder Murray typically lacks). All sentimentality aside, I must give this movie 2.5/5 Stars.
If you do happen to see this, though, keep an eye out for the other Oscar winner in the cast: Don Cheadle, credited as 'Juicy Burger Worker'.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
02/23/23
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Audience Member
I had a good time watching thing and quite a few laughs. John Murray is quite good in this.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/15/23
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Audience Member
While a lot of the jokes are groan-worthy, there still are quite a few genuinely funny moments. Certainly not one of the great comedies, but still watchable.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
01/19/23
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