Throw Momma From the Train

The "exchange murders" plot gambit, played with utter solemnity in Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train, is used as the launching pad for raucous laughter in Throw Momma From the Train. Director/star Danny DeVito plays Owen Lift, a middle-aged bachelor, totally dominated by his gorgon mother, played ...more

Director Danny DeVito guides this black comedy with a demented oddball vision and also turns in a magnificently eccentric performance as the diminutive schnook, Owen. The film itself is a sickly hilarious Keystone capers-style comedy punctuated by some great acting and dialogue. Billy Crystal gives a nice performance in the lead, but it is the late Anne Ramsey as the ghoulish Momma who makes your skin crawl even as you howl with laughter. The story borrows its favor-for-a-favor murder premise ...more