Wise Guys (1986)

Directed by Brian De Palma. Starring Danny DeVito, Joe Piscopo, Lou Albano, Dan Hedaya, Harvey Keitel, Julie Bovasso, Patti Lupone, Antonia Rey, Ray Sharkey, Matthew Kaye. [R]

Slapstick change of pace for De Palma is far closer to his anarchic comic roots than any of the Hitchcockian psychosexual thrillers he’s staked his career on. DeVito and Piscopo are a couple of low-rent errand boys for the Newark Mob (laughing stock, quite frankly), and when they screw up placing a hefty bet at the racetrack for their boss, each of them are separately given an important assignment: whack the other one. The premise isn’t milked for what it’s worth—just as well, probably, since Prizzi’s Honor was still fresh in moviegoers’ minds—and the loud antics are played at the sort of fever pitch that will either inspire laughter or exhaustion. The leads pull off a second-rate Laurel and Hardy approximation, but Piscopo is adrift tackling a dullard while DeVito preens with a swollen head. Sure, he’s funny, and so is ex-wrestler Albano as an overboiled psychopath, but the episodes galumph along with little rhyme or reason, and the conflict is resolved with a whimper instead of a bang (ironic, considering what actually happens). De Palma’s shrewdly skittish direction helps smooth out the wrinkles of George Gallo and Norman Steinberg’s script. Ira Newborn provides the (intentionally?) chintzy score.

58/100