source: How to Beat the High Cost of Living

Trailer—How to Beat the High Cost of Living

How to Beat the High Cost of Living

This was the film that brought together Susan Saint James and Jane Curtin, who went on to have several successful seasons as "Kate and Allie". Jessica Lange is charming in an early comedy role. Key to the plot is a shopping center built on a river - at the time only found in Eugene, Oregon. If you like the stars, you will enjoy the performances, and the light-hearted story. While Susan Saint James was filming in Eugene, she did public service promos for the local Special Olympics organization. Another anecdote - the shopping center had a "Money Ball" which threw real bills all over the mall - after the shot, when the money was collected, they wound up with more than they started with. "Only in Eugene, Oregon!" chortled the director

After years of skipping watching this flick I finally had a casual moment to watch it. I skimmed the other (mere 22) IMDb reviews and most seem to have this film pretty well pegged. (However, the 10 scores were a little ridiculous: this film isn't anywhere in the league of "Oceans 11" or "The Italian Job" as caper movers.) Nice to see a caper movie starring women. This film was clearly written and filmed in the waning years of the Carter administration (as indicated by release date of 1980) and I can say that the Heroines' frustrations were understandable. If you don't remember the era, trust me, the fears and attitudes are real. Sorry. I didn't mean to sound heavy. This is a fun film. It's a perfect retro film to watch with your S.O.

A bit too slapstick (the falling out of the canoe doesn't play), some very specific historical conditions overplayed, the music is way, way too much "it's a comedy!" but really a solid story behind it and as much as you can get from the 70s (1980 was the 70s still) almost entirely non-insulting portrayals of the women, and a pretty solid heist, really. With heist movies being a staple for the past 15 years, shocked no one has remade this. It highly deserves one, and not too much updating to the story really at all.

If you like old movies from this era, you'll probably like this. The film has been preserved or restored well (at least the HD version I saw). Gives a nice glimpse into this decade. I'm giving it a 10 just because I can't think of any adult comedy (would be a family comedy today, though) that's much better from this era. It doesn't feature very high-budget props or scenes, but this is comparable to Ocean's 8, plot-wise. This is top notch movie directing/producing for this era, in my opinion.

Funnier than all the movies from Adam Sandler Freddie Prince or David Spade! This movie has lots of laugh out loud moments that are sadly missing from todays movies! The story is simple 3 women are broke. One her husband has left her and has taken everything! Another is she is a single mother of 2! The last her husband is suing her. All friends and they are all broke. Now there going to rob the mall! This is great caper comedy! What happens is a mad cap comedy! Critics didn't like this movie! A Filmways release! Not available on Home Video for years however it returned on DVD! The movie developed a loyal following when it started running on cable! Its time for the critics to review this movie again! Jane Curtin later co-stared with Susan St James in the TV Show Kate & Allie. She also co-stared with Dabney Colemen in "Maybe Baby".

Three women (Susan Saint James, Jane Curtin and Jessica Lange) are having trouble trying to make ends meet. They try various ways to get money with some very funny complications arising. I saw this in a theatre in 1980. I was still fairly young so the recession of the late 1970s didn't really affect me--but I still liked it. I remember laughing long and loud along with the rest of the audience. The three women are in top form and the script is silly and totally unbelievable but it still works. With the exception of a brief mild * scene (a topless woman is thrown in possibly to get a PG rating) this is family friendly. Not a hidden treasure but a fun, silly movie. Slightly recommended.

Jane Curtin is paranoid, Susan St. James is harried, and Jessica Lange is beautiful and married to dork Richard Benjamin. This light-hearted yup flick is fairly ridiculous, but the charms of these wonderful actresses makes it worthwhile. I give it a 6 out of 10 with the best performance by Jane Curtin. It's nice to see Jessica Lange in an early role when her youth and attractiveness hide the fact that she will become one of our best actresses while Ms. Curtin and Ms. St. James (who I also love since THE NAME OF THE GAME on TV) had careers that faltered (beside the TV show they did together - Kate and Allie). The men in this movie are mostly idiots, but this plays like a decent sit-com; fairly lame, but harmless fun.