Touchstone and Beyond: “The Crew”
Marquee Attraction: The Crew
Release Date: August 25, 2000
Budget: $38 million
Domestic Box Office Gross: $13,023,075
Worldwide Box Office Gross: $13,105,853
Plot Synopsis
Bobby, Bats, The Brick, and Mouth are four retired made men, who have settled in Miami. They live in a run-down hotel that is on the cusp of being gentrified and taken over by the youth. Looking to preserve their way of life, though it’s not that special, the four former mobsters steal a corpse, and shoot it, leaving it in their retirement hotel. The guys believe that if a ‘murder’ happened in the hotel, it would scare the younger crowd away.
Little do the four men know, the corpse was the father of a drug dealer named Raul, who sees only that his dad was murdered and is out for revenge. Hoping to scare away the tourists and younger crowd, Bobby, Bats, The Brick, and Mouth, are back in the lifestyle, just trying to survive.
When a detective named Olivia starts to investigate the escalating battle that Raul has pursued to avenge his father, Bobby is shocked to learn that the cop who could put him away is his long-lost daughter.
Before long, the four wise guys will face Raul, and the question the old men need to answer is, do they still have the gumption, and guts to get dirty, and shoot it out with some drug dealers.
Standing Ovation
I really enjoyed the four lead actors. Hedaya, Reynolds, and Casel are the perfect supporting acts to Dreyfuss as the lead. Even in the smallest of films, with the most minimal story, Richard Dreyfuss can command the screen with his presence. His Bobby is a likable loser who hates his past and just wants to find his daughter. Dreyfuss not only makes his presence felt as the leader of the crew but manages to bring humanity to the part of gangsters.
Burt Reynolds as Bats was perfect. He was scheming, and blunt, much like his namesake a bat. Reynolds added magic to the role that he didn’t get to play enough off in the later part of his career.
Any movie with Carrie-Anne Moss is a good movie. She’s fantastic and needs to be in more pictures.
Time for the Hook
Jeremy Piven’s character Steve is a lothario joke that is not needed and should have been rewritten. I get the criticism by many people about the stereotypes and slapstick silly humor to the film. I enjoyed those aspects, but Piven’s character is just gross. He is a distraction and a disdain to the rest of the movie and needs to be gone from this type of film.
Bit Part Player
Watch closely for the small role played by Fyvush Finkel as Sol Lowenstein. Anyone who watched Picket Fences will recognize this man. He’s always memorable even in the smallest of parts played.
Did You Know?
- When the movie was released, it made over $4 million dollars at the box office on its opening weekend.
- The movie was recognized by the German Dubbing Awards for Outstanding Male Performance in dubbing. Thomas Fritsch won the award for his work dubbing Seymour Cassel. Since Cassel has few lines in the film, the fact that this guy got an award for dubbing him makes me want to see the German version.
- Jeremy Piven is a little too proud about the scene where he sucks on Carrie-Anne Moss toes. It’s a terrible scene, and hopefully, Moss has blocked it from her memory.
- Richard Dreyfuss and Seymour Cassel co-starred in Touchstone’s 1987 film Tin Men. That is a must-see film.
- Frank Vincent of Goodfellas fame continues his work in the mob world as Marty.
- Roger Ebert was not a fan of the film. He called the comedy in the film desperate. I would disagree.
Best Quotable Line
The idea that gangsters could live to retirement is hilarious, and the exchange between Bobby and Bats says it all.
Bats: “I thought you said the good times were gonna last forever."
Bobby: “I thought we’d be dead by now."
Bill’s Hot Take
The Crew has a solid premise that would have been a successful film if it had a more well-known cast. Richard Dreyfuss, Dan Hedaya, Burt Reynolds, and Seymour Cassel are not going to sell a lot of movie tickets. I think the film failed because no one connected with the actors.
Casting Call
- Richard Dreyfuss as Bobby
- Burt Reynolds as Bats
- Dan Hedaya as Brick
- Seymour Cassel as Mouth
- Carrie-Anne Moss as Olivia
- Jennifer Tilly as Ferris
- Jeremy Piven as Steve
- Miguel Sandoval as Raul
Production Team:
Directed by Michael Dinner
Produced by Touchstone Pictures / George Litto Productions / Sonnenfeld Josephson Worldwide Entertainment
Written by Barry Fanaro
My Critical Response
{Snub-Skip this Film, Lifeboat Award-Desperate for Something to Watch, Commuter Comforter-A Perfect Film for Any Device, Jaw Dropper- You Must Watch This Film on a Big Screen, Rosebud Award- This Film is Cinema.}
The Crew is a rollicking comedy of old men who realize their old and aren’t that happy about it. Times have changed and the jokes and humor will still make the audience chuckle, and that’s why I give The Crew my Commuter Comforter Award. It’s not the best film, but it would be the perfect film to watch while commuting to work on the bus or the train.
Coming Soon
Next week, a look back at High Heels and Low Lifes.