Throw Momma from the Train (1987)

Starring: Billy Crystal, Danny DeVito, Anne Ramsey, Rob Reiner, and Oprah Winfrey
Grade: A

Throw Momma from the Train deserves a lot more attention than it gets. This is a great film. It’s much better than its odd title and uninspired movie poster suggests.

“What a week” is the understatement of the decade.

Summary

Novelist Larry Donner (Crystal) is working on a new book but is struggling mightily from writer’s block. Currently, he’s stuck on the opening line of, “The night was…”. After wasting some time, he turns on The Oprah Winfrey Show from his desk. To his surprise, his ex-wife Margaret (Kate Mulgrew) is on the show and being referred to as the author of the best-selling novel Hot Fire. To the world, this is true, but Larry knows she stole his manuscript and just put her name on it. As he watches this episode in frustration, his friend Lester (Branford Marsalis) walks in to borrow some clothes and mentions Margaret being on Oprah. Margaret talks on the show about how she was able to fulfill her potential as a writer and artist after getting out of her “prison-like” marriage, referring to Larry as some “hack writer” that inspired her because she thought she could do it better than him. When Oprah asks her how she thinks Larry feels, Margaret says she doesn’t care. Lester knows Margaret stole Larry’s book but tells him to just write another one and forget about it, as if it’s that fucking easy. He looks over at Larry’s typewriter and reads aloud the only line, “The night was…”. Larry immediately crumbles up the paper, telling Lester he just started. Lester points out that he’s been on the same line since July. Going back to Oprah, Margaret talks about how she’s living in Hawaii now and her reasoning for creating such a brilliant piece of writing on her first try was because it’s the “story of my life”. This incenses Larry because it was his life.

Owen Lift (DeVito) is a lonely man that lives with his horrible mother (Ramsey). He wants to be a writer and works diligently on his typewriter only to be interrupted by Mrs. Lift who demands a pop. As he gets it for her, she accuses him of writing a letter to get “them” to send her away. He explains he’s writing a story for class and that “Owen loves his momma”. She imitates his voice annoyingly, and he starts to get furious. He looks over in the cabinet and grabs Lye to poison Lift’s drink. He puts it together in the drink and serves it to her. He imagines her dying and does enjoy it, but he snaps back to reality and slaps the glass out of her hand before she takes a sip. The glass breaks against the door, so she calls Owen clumsy and slaps him. Quietly, he cleans up the mess. The next day, Owen heads to his creative writing class at Valley Community College. It’s taught by Larry, and he’s going over everyone’s short stories today. After Mrs. Hazeltine (Annie Ross) goes first and reads aloud the last part of her terrible story, Larry gives her notes to work on her similes and how she should look up the instruments used on a submarine if the story takes place inside of one. As he says this, Owen takes his story from the stack and lays it on top so he can go next. Once Larry is done, he grabs Owen’s story, glances at it for a moment, lays it back onto the pile, and picks up Mr. Pinsky’s (Raye Birk) 100 Girls I’d Like To Pork. Pinsky argues that it’s a coffee table book, but Larry is unimpressed. Larry reads it aloud and each chapter is just the name of the woman. Larry tells Pinsky this isn’t literature, so Pinsky brings up that he would include things like a photograph, character sketch, and dust jacket. They go back and forth, and the class starts arguing over the artistic merits of Pinsky’s work until the bell rings and class is dismissed. Sadly eating candy, Owen leaves too. Later, Owen finds Larry at the laundromat and gives Larry his tie because he dropped it in the rain outside, though he scares Larry because he looked like he was going to choke him with it at first. After Larry thanks him, Owen introduces himself, but Larry tells him he knows who he is.

Changing the subject, Owen asks why he didn’t read his story, Murder at My Friend Harry’s. As they walk through the rain, Larry refers to him as “Irwin” and asks if they can talk about it later before finally admitting he didn’t like it following Owen’s pestering. Larry gives him the details in that it was a murder mystery that was three pages long, so there was no mystery on who the murderer was. He only had two characters, and one was dead on page two, giving the answer away. Owen says one guy killed the other, but Larry stresses how it wasn’t motivated. He drives off once he realizes Owen isn’t fully comprehending his point. At home, Larry leaves an apology on Beth’s (Kim Griest) answering machine for missing out on their date because he had Margaret on the mind. Following this, he continues to try and work out his writing, trying to figure out how to flesh out “The night was…”. He lands on “The night was humid” after flipping out about Margaret again. At Owen’s place, Owen is on his typewriter until Mrs. Lift interrupts Owen to help her get a wax buildup out of her ear. She slaps him a few more times and accuses him of writing a love letter to some unknown woman, forcing Owen to continuously explain how he’s writing a story for class. Lift is annoyed by the typing and tells him he’s never going to be anything, despite his dreams of being a writer. He imagines sticking scissors through her head to kill her, but he snaps back to reality. He got the wax out, and she thanks him, adding that she’s not sure what she would do without him. That night, he writes an updated version of his story. The next day on campus at the cafeteria, Owen tries to give it to Larry, but Larry bypasses him to talk to Beth who’s eating her lunch. She’s a fellow professor at the school and teaches anthropology. He apologizes to her again for missing their first date but admits he went crazy after seeing Margaret on television. For a moment, they are interrupted by Larry’s entire class who are sitting at their own table, as Beth sees them staring. Pinsky asks Beth what her name is, but Larry tells him to not even think about it, implying that Pinsky might add her to his book with his line of questioning.

Going back to Beth, Larry is able to convince her to give him a second chance, though Larry’s mood is soured when one of his students mentions seeing his former wife on television. Beth wonders why he can’t get over this, and Larry gets mad and talks about how she stole his book before Beth leaves because she doesn’t want to be yelled at. He apologizes again and just says that his passion for writing is gone, but she says that his passion comes out when he talks about Margaret. He yells “Slut!” out loud but makes sure everyone near knows he’s talking about Margaret and not Beth. Beth storms off and Larry continues to yell aloud how he hates Margaret and wishes she was dead. Owen takes note of this.

In class, an older man named Phil gets a great reception from the class for his story, but Larry still seems a bit dejected. Next, he goes to read Owen’s story, glances over at Owen, and they share a smile. He reads the first line, “The night was humid…” and stops in his tracks. He immediately cancels class on account of a headache in his eye and runs out of there. At home, Larry changes his opening line to “The night was moist…” but changes his mind again and crumbles up the paper. He decides to read Owen’s story instead. Unbeknownst to him, Owen is outside of his house, waiting across the street for him. Eventually, Larry drives out to see Beth, which wakes up Owen who fell asleep outside waiting for him. Owen follows him. That night, Larry and Beth are making out in a park on a playground kiddie train for children. They are interrupted by Owen eating his potato chips. He’s sitting further back in the train watching. Naturally, Larry flips out on him, but he does say he read Owen’s story when he asks. Owen apologizes for the disturbance and walks away. He turns back to ask Larry if he liked the story, but Larry immediately yells at him “No!”. In the middle of the night, Larry is asleep but gets a phone call from Owen asking why he didn’t like his story. Relenting, Larry meets Owen on a bench in front of a supermarket, and he explains the importance of the killer needing a motivation for a murder. They can’t be just crazy. They need a reason. Owen needs to eliminate the motive. Using Margaret as an example, Larry says he hates her, but he wouldn’t kill her because he would get caught. People would know he had a motive to do it. Owen can relate because of the situation with his mother. Seeing how they have this in common, Larry tries to get him to think a little bit about how not to get caught. He needs to eliminate the motive and establish an alibi. When Owen asks how to do this, Larry suggests he watch an Alfred Hitchcock film. Owen gets excited because he thinks Larry wants to go to the movies with him, but Larry assures him this isn’t the case. Even so, Larry encourages him and goes back home.

Remembering Larry’s words of “Eliminate the motive”, Owen eventually goes to see Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train. Owen takes in the ideas of two strangers swapping murders and how it eliminates the motive for both of them because they would both technically murder a total stranger. In Owen’s head, he sees Larry’s suggestion and mixes it with the plot of the film and “realizes” that Larry wants to do this in real life! Owen can kill Margaret, and Larry can kill Mrs. Lift. Obviously, that’s not at all what Larry meant because he was just trying to help Owen’s writing, but this is the way Owen takes it. At night, Larry and Beth are getting intimate, and Larry gets a phone call. He knows right away that it’s Owen. Owen mentions how he saw the movie and how he knows what Larry is trying to tell him. Not knowing what he’s actually saying, Larry just goes along with it. Owen promises to call back in a couple of days before hanging up because Mrs. Lift is calling him. Sometime later, Larry goes to Los Angeles to meet with his agent Joel (Reiner). Apparently, Joel has dropped him as a client after 7 years. Larry tries to protest, but Joel brings up how he hasn’t written anything. Larry points out how he wrote Hot Fire, which leads to Joel awkwardly admitting that their agency has signed Margaret as a client. Even if she stole it, she sold 2 million copies, and it can’t be ignored. As Joel cleans up things around his house, he talks about how he gave Larry assignments over the years and made his deals, but Larry was the one who refused to “compromise” his art. He continues about how Larry has been working on a novel for 4 years that no one has seen and how he has used Margaret as an excuse for not writing. He gives Larry his favorite fuchsia and sends him off. Unbeknownst to Larry, Owen flies into Hawaii and takes a taxi to Margaret’s home, sneaking inside. He gets close behind her, but Lopez, the man she’s with, enters through the side door. Seeing him, Owen hides behind the couch. Margaret and Lopez get intimate on the couch, and they are momentarily interrupted by a phone call from Joel who reminds her about a signing she has to make.

Owen crawls over and makes himself a sandwich while he waits.

Soon after, Margaret drives off into the city and Owen is caught off guard. He follows her onto the last boat to Maui. He tries to make conversation with her at a table inside, but she ignores him and goes to the deck by herself. Owen follows, puts on his leather gloves, and walks behind her. Just then, she notices her earring fell onto the side of the boat. She reaches over the railing for it, so Owen goes to push her over the edge. At the same time, Larry is at the beach lying on a rock, still trying to figure out what to write. He falls asleep and wakes up in the morning still on the rock. To add to his misery, his car parked on the beach won’t start. Larry’s class waits for him, but he doesn’t show up. Owen isn’t there either because he’s still in Hawaii. Larry is in bed and is woke up by a call from Owen. He’s calling from a public phone and is continuously hanging up during the call to make sure it’s not traced. Even so, he tells a confused Larry that the “crisscross” is done. He killed Margaret, and Larry is to now hold up his end of the bargain by killing Mrs. Lift. Owen wants to meet up later to discuss the details and hangs up. Larry is in full panic mode and calls Margaret. He gets no answer, which only confirms what happened. Now, he’s panicking because he doesn’t have an alibi and knows everyone will think he did it. He runs outside and into Lester’s apartment to talk to him. Lester is with a woman named Gladstone (Olivia Brown) in bed. Larry just wants words of reassurance from Lester because he was with him at the club at 1AM, so he couldn’t possibly be implicated in anything in Hawaii. However, Gladstone argues that Larry could have hypothetically made the 3AM flight and arrived by 5 considering the three-hour time change. Even if he spent four hours out there, he would have plenty of time to catch the last flight out by 10. She does all the math for him surprisingly well, and it turns out that she’s a senior flight supervisor. After hearing Gladstone’s points, Lester even says Larry is guilty of whatever he’s worried about.

Panicking over the lack of an alibi, he borrows Lester’s car to go meet Beth. On the drive to Beth, he hears on the radio that Margaret is presumed dead and foul play is not out of the question. With Owen still wanting his favor and Larry still having no alibi for Margaret’s death, Larry is in quite the predicament.

My Thoughts:

In his directorial debut, the incomparable Danny DeVito takes on the black comedy Throw Momma from the Train and does an honorable job in making a rather dark concept into a funny, light-hearted, and surprisingly exciting watch with two great comic performances by DeVito himself and star Billy Crystal.

Anytime someone trashes this movie, I regularly think back to Larry Donner yelling “SLUT!” over and over again when talking about his ex-wife. Seriously, how can you not find this funny?

Throw Momma from the Train is largely forgotten within the zeitgeist of 1980s cinema, but I love this film. As a huge fan of Billy Crystal, and DeVito’s eclectic, outside-the-box directorial work (Death to Smoochy, The War of the Roses, etc.), this underrated black comedy is consistently amusing, riddled with one-liners and funny moments where great humor can be found in murder just as well as wacky stuff like Owen cartoonishly hitting Larry with a frying pan out of nervousness. The principal characters are interesting, the chemistry between the leads is as good as advertised, it’s paced well, and there’s a certain quirkiness to the story that not only fits the comedic stylings of its stars but also helps keep the viewer’s attention. It’s one of those narratives that makes the audience question how in the world will the main character find a way out of it, and that’s what keeps things moving. The always charming Billy Crystal is excellent as Yale graduate Larry Donner, a novelist without any work to show of it. In fact, his friend Lester’s argument in Larry not being a murderer is “because Larry never did anything”. Currently, Larry is living an author’s personal hell. Not only was his book completely stolen outright, but it was stolen by his ex-wife, and she became the star he should have been because of it. It’s ruined his life, and he’s been in an inescapable funk ever since. He’s trying to get out of it, but the writer’s block has taken over and the only thing he can do to pass the time is teach a class and MAYBE have a relationship with someone like Beth. Unfortunately, the mere sight or mention of his ex-wife Margaret sets him off. I love this character. On top of Crystal already being one of my favorite actors and him always putting on a great performance as the lead, the character itself is a relatable one. Anyone who fancies themself a writer can put themselves in Larry’s shoes and totally understand what he’s going through. The idea of what could have been his biggest hit being stolen by someone close is the worst thing that could possibly happen to a writer or author.

Now, imagine it’s your ex-wife who did it. Yeah, it would take me a while to get over it too.

When Larry’s friend Lester is questioned by the police following Larry’s car crash, Lester admits what everyone else is thinking in that he himself would have killed Margaret if she stole his book, though Larry would never go that far. It is annoying how so many characters in the story that are close to Larry try to tell him to get over it or write something new, instead of empathizing with his situation or even try to help him overcome it. On the other hand, this is realistic. If they are close to him, Larry probably wallows in his self-pity constantly and can’t help but talk about his misery at any given point. It can be exhausting for those around him, and they are reacting accordingly. The audience is just seeing the later stages of it and can see his friends not being as helpful as they may have been when it first happened. Still, it’s enough to incense Larry more because the recent bad luck he’s had could bring any man down to the ground. Of course, this is when his writer’s block is highlighted. The accuracy of watching the author not being able to get over a singular line and the process it takes to crank something out to the writer’s satisfaction is very well done. It’s a unique main character that you don’t see lead a film as the protagonist often, especially one who soon after finds himself in a comedic spin on Strangers on a Train. Though it’s not as dark of a film as you’d expect it to be considering the story, I still like screenwriter Stu Silver’s screenplay because the material really fits Crystal and DeVito. If it went too dark, it may have been too hard to buy into from an audience perspective considering the productions we usually find the two in. This is probably why the ending is as safe as it was. Considering this and if I was in the same position with this cast, I’d go the same route too. The direction in which the narrative goes fits the tone and energy of the movie more so. Anything too definitive or devastating could leave a sourness to the picture that wasn’t needed. As a director, Danny DeVito seems to be drawn to black comedies, which are notoriously hard to pull off. Here, we get an early example of DeVito’s tendencies as a filmmaker, and he does well in not going too far off the deep end.

He teeters the line at times, as does Silver, but it’s still relatively fun enough to where I would consider Throw Momma from the Train harmless fun. Again, it’s the tone of the movie. Crystal can state a line like, “Guy kills my wife, he can’t even kill his own mother”, and it’s delivered in such a hilarious way, the murder plot isn’t even that big of a deal anymore. It helps that Crystal’s wit is unmatched by few (“One little murder and I’m Jack the Ripper!”). There are too many great one-liners from him to count. Honestly, there may have been four or five alone just in the epilogue on the beach.

The novelty of just watching Danny DeVito and Billy Crystal discuss how to murder someone is hilarious in and of itself (“Use this pillow” – “I really don’t like you Owen”). Though the supporting cast outside of the three main characters are underutilized, especially Rob Reiner who could have had added a lot from a comedic standpoint if his role was expanded, the focus needed to be all on them for things to develop as they did. The main actors’ rapport is gold, especially because they’re able to retain their comedic personas within the performance while staying true to the characters written. There are so many funny exchanges between them like after Larry meets Mrs. Lift for the first time, and Owen asks what he thinks of her, with Crystal deadpanning, “I think she could relax a little bit” knowing how terrible she is, was just great. What’s even better is how amusing Larry’s desperate and confused reactions are dealing with the unpredictable nature of Owen. Truth be told, Crystal and DeVito’s chemistry was too good for us to get more scenes with someone like Beth. It may have just taken away from the manic energy of the movie. The one scene of watching her workout to African tribal music was enough.

DeVito pulls off a very underrated performance as the sad little manchild living with his disgusting grinch of a mother. Despite Owen Lift’s willingness to attempt a murder and desire to want his mother to be killed, DeVito evokes a lot of empathy from the viewer, playing the role like an overgrown baby with big dreams. All he wants to do is become a writer but can’t seem to reach that next level because of his circumstances. Owen has to help his mother at every waking moment, even when he’s typing away on his typewriter in hopes of having a breakthrough. Unfortunately, his train of thought is constantly being mucked up because of her interruptions and comments which either insult Owen and his dreams or accusing him of trying to get rid of her. Even so, he just eats shit because what else can he do? He loves his mom, and he knows she’d be helpless without him. She even acknowledges it too following her screaming at him, giving him a hug just when he was daydreaming about killing her with a pair of scissors. It’s quite the conundrum for someone like Owen, and a lot of people can relate to the poor guy, even though in private she tells Larry that Owen doesn’t have any friends not because he’s shy like Larry argues, but because he’s “fat and stupid”. She’s awful, but Owen is taking care of his mother because no one else can. Sadly, despite his best efforts, she’s driving him crazy. He’s already mentally unstable, so this couldn’t be a worse situation for a person like him. Right from the beginning, it doesn’t take much to see something is a bit off about Owen. Saying lines like “Owen loves his momma” once she questions him and how he reacts with her are some of the earlier signs, along with his constant snacking due to discomfort or sad feelings. Honestly, it kind of breaks your heart in some instances because of how well DeVito is able to bring this sorrowful character to life. Then, he has moments like when he makes it back from Hawaii following such a dastardly sin, and Larry threatens to take him to the police.

Owen somberly agrees with Larry that he’s “no good” but then changes his expression to happiness in an instant yelling, “Look cows!” after seeing a group of cows in a field. Owen is a man, but he’s been belittled and sheltered so much that he has the mind of a child. All he has is his writing, which is why he’s so passionate about getting better, not realizing he’s making Larry uncomfortable with his pestering. However, there’s more to it than that. As the audience gets to know him better, they can see that human interaction brings him joy too. Though he doesn’t express it outwardly, it’s felt in his interactions with Larry. Owen doesn’t have any friends. He’s incredibly lonely, which is why Larry relents and starts giving him attention in the first place. Once he gets to know Owen a bit more, he does start to befriend him, as he can see that though Owen can be annoying and weird, it’s coming from a good place. He’s a sweet guy who clearly has a lot of unresolved problems. In one unexpectedly poignant scene, Larry is hanging out with Owen in his home. Like a kid, Owen brings up wanting to show Larry his coin collection and makes him feel bad until Larry finally relents. At first, you think they’re going down the comic route of Owen just showing him regular change he has collected. From a comedic standpoint, this still would have been a funny way to go with it. However, it’s just a teaser. What we don’t expect is the heart that shines through the scene when Owen details the real reason why he has these basic coins. Each one has this sentimental meaning behind it, relating to his father Ned who passed away. He pulls out one coin and happily talks about how it was from when his dad took him to see Peter, Paul, and Mary. Another is from when he bought a hot dog at the circus and his dad let him keep the change, something Ned always did. After he talks about another coin being from the Hollywood Palladium when they went to see Martin and Lewis together, he smiles saying, “I love my dad a lot”. The whole collection consists of change his father let him keep.

It’s a subtle but beautiful scene the viewer doesn’t see coming. Considering the circumstances surrounding the premise and Owen himself, you can’t help but feel for him, as does Larry. It’s evident in Larry’s expression changing from annoyance to an understanding smile as he lets Owen speaks to him like they are the only two people in the world. It’s in this moment that DeVito really honed in on his performance, making Owen this lonely, sympathetic character that the viewer can’t help but feel for. This is only emphasized when Owen is seen in his pajamas outside on the porch playing with his train set. On paper, Owen sounds creepy when stuff like this is written out, but his performance is that good. It gets to the point where you just want to give the guy a hug, especially when he yells at a panicked Larry, “Larry, don’t leave me!” when Larry has to run after Mrs. Lift sees his picture on the news being implicated in Margaret’s death. The innocence in Owen’s heart is always present no matter what his actions are. It’s a dynamic and highly underrated performance. How else can you categorize a character attempting murder, but it somehow isn’t entirely malicious in intent?

Anne Ramsey is gloriously dreadful as the sleeps-with-her-eyes-open Mrs. Lift. Every word she speaks is like nails on a chalkboard, but that’s exactly what was asked of her. No one can play unbearable as well as she can. Very few actresses can make a viewer uncomfortable just by the sight of her appearance, but Ramsey has a gift in playing terrible old women. She will always be remembered for The Goonies, but keep in mind that this film got her an Oscar nomination. What a career! She can make the audience just as uncomfortable as the other characters in the film do. She embodies Owen’s terrible mother to the point where the viewer can’t help but see things from Owen’s perspective. Naturally, we want to be like Larry is for a majority of the movie. He’s not a killer. He can’t go through with this. On the other hand, if you spend enough time with the woman, or as Larry would say, “She’s not a woman. She’s The Terminator”, you might be convinced. Her own son is confident on the matter! When he sits with Larry at his kitchen table and is still trying to sell him on the idea by suggesting he just jerk around a lot when he’s talking to her because she has a bad heart, he plainly tells Larry to “just meet her” because it’s possible she would be somebody he’d like to kill. Once she appears in the room and Larry is visibly startled by her appearance, you laugh at first, but you see Owen’s point. Larry can feel Owen’s pain, and his picture-perfect delivery on the train of, “I’m gonna kill the bitch. You want anything?” really makes the film what it is. The viewer probably would never want to outright admit they are rooting for someone to die, but Ramsey’s obnoxious performance as Mrs. Lift is done well enough to where you don’t hate on anyone attempting to kill her.

It’s comical when you consider the fact that just her talking gets you to think, “Yeah, I get it”.

The only thing that didn’t work was Larry’s dream sequence in the hospital about Margaret. He didn’t need another “Eureka” type of moment. It was much too strange to fit with the events that happened previously and came off as overkill. Thankfully, the moment when Owen blows the trumpet at Mrs. Lift while she sleeps and she wakes up saying she had a dream Louis Armstrong was trying to kill her kind of even things out.

Another great attribute of Throw Momma from the Train is how they increasingly raise the stakes and keep things interesting while teasing us and making the us wonder if the main characters will go through with it or turn on each other in the process. The series of scenes in the Lift household where Larry has to deal with the madness and almost get caught by the police while he’s hiding in the pantry were excellently done. At that moment in time, you really don’t know how Owen will react to Larry’s objections or inability to pull it off. Honestly, they could have easily parked the rest of the movie in Owen’s house and still kept it entertaining, but I appreciate their willingness to throw so many other wacky scenes in to keep the pace and suspense up. The biggest positive of the movie is its willingness to essentially become the ultimate game of how to think on your feet. Considering we’re dealing with a mentally unstable manchild and a writer with writer’s block as the two people that have to navigate through it all, the entertainment value is high because of how unprepared they are on how to deal with the situation they inadvertently caused (“Hi tea!”).

Despite the idea of the film being taken from the famous Alfred Hitchcock film, Throw Momma from the Train is original. It makes the heart of the story humorous and arguably innocent in nature and encases it in a darker outer brim to create a fun, bold, and off-beat black comedy. Starring the hilarious duo of Billy Crystal and Danny DeVito, the movie takes just enough chances to win the audience over without going too far into the deep end and it turns into an exciting, unpredictable, genuinely funny, and breezy hour and a half film. As a big fan of both actors, Throw Momma from the Train is something I’ll always recommend.