"How to Beat the High Cost of Living" (1980)

Jane Curtin told this funny story in some old interview. Jessica Lange had just started dating Mikhail Barishnikov; Susan Saint James and she thought Jessica would just marry Misha, maybe do some tv work and that would be the end of her career. They thought she was a sweet, beautiful girl but not all that ambitious. Of course, Curtin then had to laugh very hard.

I always think of this very silly, funny movie on a double-bill with "9-5".

So sue me!

BAN OP!!

Who will start the “How to Beat the High Cost of Loving” thread?

I thought it was like "Going in Style" from the year before (1979), but with young women instead of old men. I remember liking both: they weren't necessarily laugh-out-loud comedies, but kind of funny and kind of sad. I remember one of the women said she had married the best good provider she could stomach...

I like this movie.

Speaking of 9 to 5, Dabney Coleman is in this too.

I really liked Jane Curtin in this. While watching it, there was something about her that reminded me a lot of Kirsten Dunst. I can't put my finger on it though.

I don't think those were Jane's breasts in the nude scene.

I remember seeing this in the theater as an 8-year-old because Dad was a huge Lange fan (we also had to see King Kong). All I remember about this was the nude scene & being really tickled that Jane Curtin was in the movie (SNL members were godlike to me then).

R9 most likely a body double to sell the movie. This was a B-grade production after all.

During the run of Kate and Allie, I was always hoping Lange would make a guest appearance. I wonder if they ever tried to invite her on the show.

As a high school flautist, my idol was Hubert Laws, so I know the soundtrack well.

Never saw the movie, though, it was long before my time.

The scene with the water pistol was always said to be the one big laugh in the film.

I saw this a few times in the theater when I was 11, and always enjoy when it pops up randomly on tv. I'd rather watch it on loop than half the shit that's being churned out today.

The producer had tried to get this film off the ground since the early 1970s. At one point he had hope to cast Ann-Margret and Raquel Welch. If it had a better director it might have worked as a satiric comedy but there was no one to guide the performances are all over the place and unfocused. It's a shame.

R16 Yes because they were soooo known for their deft comedic skills.

I’ve never seen this on TV/demand anywhere and I’ve looked - but I love Jane Curtain and have always wanted to see it once.

R17 you can watch it for free on Tubi (with ads, but big deal). It's also on DVD and Blu-ray, but I'd watch it first before paying for a physical copy of it.

R18 thanks! It seems like a sort of B grade 9 to 5 and I always enjoy comedies from that era. Complete with a Dabney Coleman appearance, what more could you ask for?

Between this one and 9 To 5, I wanted Dabney Coleman deep, deep inside of me.

then you need to see his nude scene in Modern Problems r20 (or look up the photos of it online) He gives a lovely backal presentation.

R20- I guess I have to come to the conclusion that you're not a top.

"Fun with Dick and Jane" did a similar same premise 3 years earlier.

R23- George Segal was good looking in that movie.

I saw that movie in the theater in 1977 with my brothers when I was 11 years old.

No laugh-out-loud moments? I know I'm odd, but I did laugh out loud when Jane drives through the garage door after her power has been cut off. (And it was fun to see Garrett Morris as the customer service rep at the electric company.)

As kids we were SO into that money ball and hoped one would come to our mall. I never saw it but isn’t Mad Money with Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah and Katie Holmes basically a remake of this?

This movie is a time capsule for mall geeks. It captured a typical American mall in all its splendor.