--- title: "Ruthless People" year: 1986 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/ruthless-people" fi1m_id: "ruthless-people" imdb_id: "tt0091877" tmdb_id: 12151 wikidata_id: "Q684697" fi1m_score: 77 critics_score: 71 critics_reviews: 7 published: "2026-10-04T19:47:21.895502+00:00" updated: "2026-10-04T19:47:22.404854+00:00" region: "RO" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Ruthless People (1986) Directed by David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams · 1h 34m · Comedy ## Identity Ruthless People - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/ruthless-people - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** ruthless-people - **IMDb ID:** tt0091877 - **TMDB ID:** 12151 - **Wikidata ID:** Q684697 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091877/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/12151, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q684697 **Fi1m score: 77** · Critics 71 from 7 reviews *In a sentence:* Danny DeVito makes having your wife kidnapped look like an unexpected improvement to the week > *Ruthless People* gets plenty of laughs from a husband delighted by his wife’s kidnapping. Danny DeVito and Bette Midler make the nastiness enjoyable, though the farce grows less convincing when it starts tidying up. ## Synopsis Sam Stone (Danny DeVito) has a missing wife and no desire to find her. Barbara Stone (Bette Midler) has been kidnapped, but her husband’s response is not the one her abductors need: he does not want her back. The other players include Ken Kessler (Judge Reinhold) and Sandy Kessler (Helen Slater). The kidnapping puts Barbara’s marriage at the centre of a problem her husband would rather leave unsolved, with anyone seeking her return working against Sam’s wish to remain without her. ## Review *Ruthless People* is a brisk, agreeably nasty farce, worth an evening if marital spite is your sort of entertainment. Sam Stone’s wife has been kidnapped, and he would rather she stayed that way: a premise that gives Danny DeVito plenty to work with before the complications even begin. Directors Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams and David Zucker recognise how much comedy there is in that simple failure of affection. Dale Launer’s screenplay keeps finding ways to make it everyone’s problem. Danny DeVito makes Sam’s selfishness so thorough that ordinary concern would look suspicious on him. He does not ask us to discover a decent fellow beneath it, and the performance benefits from that lack of apology. We laughed at Sam’s pleasure in Barbara’s kidnapping, then felt slightly ashamed of how readily we had accepted it. His delight is so complete that we momentarily forget what he is delighted about. Bette Midler gives Barbara enough force to stop the film becoming a series of jokes about an unwanted wife. Her aggression is funny because she commits to it without asking for permission to be liked, and she makes the character feel capable of exhausting anyone in reach. There are stretches when the sheer insistence of the performance starts to wear down the joke. Even then, she keeps Barbara from seeming merely a convenient reason for everyone else to misbehave. The pleasure of Dale Launer’s writing is in watching people calculate badly while remaining certain they understand the situation. Farce depends on our being able to follow those mistakes, and the screenplay generally keeps us sufficiently informed to anticipate trouble without knowing precisely how it will arrive. The complications mostly feel like consequences of the characters’ selfishness. A few require more indulgence than they earn, particularly when the script appears to be arranging people for its next clever move. Jan de Bont’s cinematography gives the actors room to be funny; our attention stays with their reactions as the situation becomes more absurd. The visual energy helps, although there is little here we want to look at for its own sake. Editors Gib Jaffe and Arthur Schmidt give the accumulating complications enough space to register, and the 94-minute running time feels sensible for material this insistently worked up. The cutting keeps the misunderstandings clear even when several people are busy making matters worse. Michel Colombier’s score makes less impression than the actors, and does little to sharpen the sense that these people can hurt each other. That becomes a broader weakness whenever the screenplay reaches for reassurance. The effort to make the plotting resolve satisfactorily introduces some conveniences that the earlier, sharper writing would have encouraged us to question. We would have preferred the film to remain as suspicious of its people as the opening premise encourages us to be. As a farce, though, it gets the essential business right often enough to survive those reservations. Danny DeVito and Bette Midler are particularly enjoyable when the script simply allows them to be unreasonable, without trying to account for every ugly impulse. The jokes depend on our willingness to spend time with people whose behaviour we would find intolerable outside a comedy. Choose it for the performances, and allow a little patience for the contrivances. *Fi1m score 77, published 4 October 2026.* ## What the critics say The reviews lean positive on Ruthless People, with praise clustering around its farcical plotting and the performances of Danny DeVito and Bette Midler. Critics repeatedly find the scheming funny, the complications cleverly arranged and the comic writing sharp. Midler’s energy draws particular attention, while the central couple’s mismatched temperaments give the comedy much of its appeal. There is also praise for the directors’ visual comic energy, alongside the writing and performances. The clearest reservation comes from the Los Angeles Times, which finds the ending formulaic and unconvincing despite admiring much of the execution. The recorded scores fall within a fairly narrow range, with no outright negative notices. That apparent agreement needs a qualification: three of the seven entries lack accessible verdicts, so their reservations cannot be identified. The available text supports a positive consensus more firmly than it explains the mixed scores. ## Straight answers **Is Ruthless People worth watching?** *Ruthless People* is worth watching if marital spite and selfish people making bad decisions are your sort of comedy; we scored it 77. Danny DeVito and Bette Midler make the nastiness funny, though the plotting grows less convincing when it tries to tidy everything up. **How long is Ruthless People, and what is it rated?** *Ruthless People* runs 1h 34m. It is a comedy film. **Where can I watch Ruthless People in Romania?** *Ruthless People* is not on any streaming or rental service in Romania at the moment. It is available in 21 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily. **How violent or frightening is Ruthless People, and is it suitable for children?** *Ruthless People* carries a UK 18 certificate and is not suitable for children. Its kidnapping premise becomes material for nasty comedy, with a husband delighted that his wife is missing; the certificate indicates adult viewing, but we cannot give a more specific warning about violence or frightening scenes from the material described. **How does Ruthless People compare to Kind Hearts and Coronets?** *Ruthless People* is a broader, less precise farce than [*Kind Hearts and Coronets*](https://film.one/film/kind-hearts-and-coronets), which we favour for its controlled cruelty and more chilling treatment of murderous self-interest. Choose the former for Danny DeVito and Bette Midler being enjoyably unreasonable; choose the latter for polite manners that make appalling behaviour funnier. **What should I watch after Ruthless People?** After *Ruthless People*, try [*Kind Hearts and Coronets*](https://film.one/film/kind-hearts-and-coronets) (1949, Fi1m 91): Polite manners make the murderous self-interest funnier, and considerably more chilling. Then [*A Fish Called Wanda*](https://film.one/film/a-fish-called-wanda) (1988, Fi1m 83): More criminal incompetence, with sharper romantic combat and equally shameless performances; and [*Fargo*](https://film.one/film/fargo) (1996, Fi1m 91): Another kidnapping founded on greed, though the consequences are much less forgiving. ### Reviews we read (7) - **Radio Times**, Joanna Berry (4/5): Berry describes the film as a fun, twist-filled comedy. She particularly praises DeVito and Midler’s performances as the mismatched, scheming couple. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-gzq6f1/ruthless-people/) - **Variety**, Variety Staff (80/100, inferred): The review finds the comedy hilariously venal and full of clever complications. It singles out Bette Midler’s energetic transformation and the upper hand she gains. [Read](https://variety.com/1985/film/reviews/ruthless-people-1200426816/) - **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert (3/4): Ebert finds the comedy consistently funny and praises its sharp comic writing. The film’s farcical plotting and performances are central to its appeal. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/ruthless-people-1986) - **Los Angeles Times**, MICHAEL WILMINGTON (70/100, inferred): Wilmington finds the comedy often hilarious and sharply executed, though its ending retreats into an unconvincing formula. He praises the directors’ visual comic energy and the performances of Danny DeVito and Bette Midler. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-06-27-ca-20648-story.html) - **The New Yorker**, Pauline Kael (64/100, inferred): The issue lists a Pauline Kael review of “Ruthless People,” but the accessible page does not reveal her verdict. It provides no specific praise or complaint from the review. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1986/07/14) - **The New York Times** (64/100, inferred): The page content is blocked, so the critic’s verdict cannot be determined. No specific praise or complaint is available in the supplied text. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1986/06/27/movies/film-ruthless-people-a-comedy.html) - **Time Out**, CPea (64/100, inferred): The visible page does not reveal the critic’s verdict. Its description highlights the premise of abducting someone so obnoxious that nobody wants them back. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/ruthless-people-1) ## Details - **Director:** David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams - **Director:** David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams - **Screenplay:** Dale Launer - **Cinematography:** Jan de Bont - **Editor:** Gib Jaffe, Arthur Schmidt - **Music:** Michel Colombier - **Producer:** Michael Peyser - **Cast:** Danny DeVito as Sam Stone; Bette Midler as Barbara Stone; Judge Reinhold as Ken Kessler; Helen Slater as Sandy Kessler; Anita Morris as Carol Dodsworth; Bill Pullman as Earl James Mott; William G. Schilling as Chief Henry Benton; Art Evans as Lt. Bender - **Runtime:** 1h 34m - **First release (the US):** 26 June 1986 - **Genres:** Comedy - **Budget:** $11 million - **Box office:** $72 million ## Where to watch in Romania Not streaming, renting or buying in Romania at the last check. Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BE, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, DE, EC, FR, GB, IE, IL, MX, NZ, PA, PE, US, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Kind Hearts and Coronets* (1949), Fi1m 91: Polite manners make the murderous self-interest funnier, and considerably more chilling. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/kind-hearts-and-coronets.md) - *A Fish Called Wanda* (1988), Fi1m 83: More criminal incompetence, with sharper romantic combat and equally shameless performances. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/a-fish-called-wanda.md) - *Fargo* (1996), Fi1m 91: Another kidnapping founded on greed, though the consequences are much less forgiving. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/fargo.md) - *The Dinner Game* (1998): A carefully arranged humiliation collapses under the weight of its organiser’s vanity. - *Wild Tales* (2014), Fi1m 83: Petty grievances become elaborate acts of revenge, with considerably less restraint. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/wild-tales.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/ruthless-people