Brewster's Millions Review

MPAA Rating: PG
Released: 1985

What would you do if you were about to inherit 300 million dollars, but in order to do so you had to spend $30 million in 30 days without showing any appreciable assets? This is the question that Brewster's Millions, a film directed by Walter Hill and starring Richard Pryor and John Candy, sets out to answer. Featuring a fun and intriguing plot and two of the 80's biggest comedic powerhouses, Brewster's Millions is a nice slice of 80's fun and escapism.

Montgomery Brewster (Richard Pryor) and his buddy Spike Nolan (John Candy) are two aging little league baseball players that have high ambitions despite the fact their playing days are nearly over. But when Brewster is summoned to a high-powered law firm in New York City, the twosome's lives are about to change.

Unbeknownst to Brewster, he is the last living relative of an extremely rich and eccentric uncle he never knew he had. This uncle recently passed away, naming Brewster the heir of a 300 million dollar fortune, but there is a catch. In order to inherit the $300,000,000, Brewster must successfully spend $30,000,000 in just 30 days, all without gaining even one appreciable asset (such as clothes, cars, etc.). Nor can he actually give the money away or inform anyone about the unique agreement forged between him and his deceased uncle. If Brewster succeeds, he becomes gloriously rich. If he fails, every penny of the inheritance will go towards the law firm to distribute as they see fit.

Assigned to keep track of Brewster's expenditures is Angela Drake (Lonette McKee), an accountant hired by the firm that knows nothing of the actual agreement. As far as she knows, she was just hired to account for Brewster's $30,000,000 inheritance. So naturally when Brewster starts spending money like it's going out of style, both she and his biddy Spike are shocked and horrified, desperately doing their best to rein his insane spending in lest he blow his entire fortune.

Brewster soon learns that spending $30,000,000 without having anything to show for it is much more difficult than it sounds, particularly when he purposely invests in "doomed" investments and they instead turn out to provide him a further windfall. And if the odds weren't stacked against him enough, Warren Cox (Stephen Collins), a sleazy attorney working for the law firm that would gain control of the 300 million should Brewster fail, weasels his way into Brewster's life to try and sabotage any chances he has of actually spending the required sum.

Brewster's Millions is not a laugh-a-minute comedy, but with the comedic talents of John Candy and Richard Pryor it always remains fun. Both of these gifted comedians are able to amuse and delight with simple facial expressions, even when the script itself fails them somewhat.

The escapist plot of the movie also helps it greatly; as we watch Brewster's Millions it's almost fun to ponder how we would spend the money were we put in a similar position. Sure, the plot is hardly new (this movie was just one of quite a few similarly-themed movies), but it never really grows weary either.

There are times when the movie almost paints itself into a corner that it cannot get out of. For example, one of the rules is that an asset cannot be purchased and then destroyed, which is understandable. But one day Brewster spends over a million on a rare collector's stamp, but since he cannot keep the asset he mails a postcard to the law office, affixing that rare stamp as postage. Sure, he didn't keep the asset. Sure, he didn't actually destroy it – but doesn't the act of using it for common postage destroy its inherent collector's value?

Such gray areas do present themselves from time to time in the movie, but with a grand goal of trying to spend such an outrageous sum without showing anything substantial for it, these questionable moments are entirely forgivable.

Unfortunately Brewster's Millions falls a bit short of being considered one of the decade's comedy greats, primarily because although the plot is always fun there are times when it lacks a comedic punch. That being said, due to the star power and cool vibe of this film I can recommend it as a fun and lighthearted movie that is suitable for people of all ages.

Movie Rating: 7 stars

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