Starring Billy Crystal, Danny DeVito, and Anne Ramsey. This cult classic was DeVito's directorial debut, and set the tone for his brand of dark, semi-surrealistic comedy. It features Crystal as a bland and burned-out professor of creative writing, whose most irritating student (DeVito) stumbles onto a Hitchcockian idea to solve both men's problems: He'll murder Crystal's thieving slut ex-wife, if Crystal agrees to kill his disgusting old crone of a mother. Comedy ensues. Also starring DL fave Kim Greist.
Memorable scenes include:
- DeVito's character calling Crystal's character from a series of increasingly elaborate payphone locations
- Crystal's ex-wife (an early Kate Mulgrew) loudly fucking her gardener in Hawaii
- DeVito's many fantasies about killing his awful mother (including with a trumpet, which makes Momma think Louis Armstrong was trying to kill her)