Brewster's Millions

Pryor and director Walter Hill do a competent job collaborating on comic pace in Brewster's Millions. But the screenplay by Herschel Weingrod and Timothy Harris isn't audacious enough to twist the ending and let Pryor's character grow. Brewster's Millions is a pleasant summer laugh, but it's not comedy that bites.

A satisfying come-down by the director, who stays safely within, rather than pushes against comedy conventions. Read full review

It's an amusing vehicle for Pryor and Candy, amiable partners wallowing in monetary ecstasy. [24 May 1985, p.25]

Brewster's Millions is a PG film, and the humor is sanitized. Pryor grins, Candy gurgles and we sit there stone-faced noticing all the holes in the plot. Once Pryor figures out a clever way to spend money by using rare stamps on letters, why doesn't he keep on doing it? Yes, that might make for a short movie, but given the way Brewster's Millions turned out, it would be no great loss. [22 May 1985, p.3]

Except for two or three explosive moments, the film plods along to the expectable, heartwarming climax, never achieving the potential of a new star in a time-proven role. [27 May 1985]

Brewster's Millions never gets breathless, as it absolutely must. [22 May 1985]

It’s hard to believe a comedy starring Richard Pryor and John Candy is no funnier than this one is, but director Walter Hill has overwhelmed the intricate genius of each with constant background action, crowd confusions and other endless distractions. Read full review

Normally, this situation comedy would provide its own built-in laughs, but here the situations are dominated by Pryor's forced, manic behavior, which removes him from empathy and offers the subservient story nothing more than casual interest. Read full review

The ideas here aren't nearly up to the scratch that writers Herschel Weingrod and Timothy Harris established in Trading Places. Read full review

Brewster's Millions isn't bad so much as flat. And flat comedy has about the appeal of flat champagne. Read full review

The film does nothing to accommodate Mr. Pryor's singular comic talents...It keeps the crazy premise but does away with such essential ingredients as funny material and antic timing. Read full review

But the script by Timothy Harris and Herschel Weingrod mistakes busyness for funniness. They make Monty Brewster a fading minorleague pitcher. But we want screwballs, not curve balls. Watching the frantic Brewster try to spend 30 million bucks is more tiresome than hilarious. [3 June 1985, p.65]

Dim, compromised, and dead on arrival. Read full review