Colin Higgins Movies

Filled with enough cameos to keep film buffs entertained, this otherwise routine action-comedy by John Landis boasts Michelle Pfeiffer as one of its major attractions. She plays Diana, a woman prone to having affairs with some very dangerous men, and Jeff Goldblum is Ed Okin, an aerospace engineer whose lot is thrown in with Diana's when the woman is caught in a bind at the airport. The beautiful Diana is an airhead on the scale of the Hindenberg, her only concerns are clothes and men -- which she either most attractively wears or wears out, depending. While Ed is at the airport one day trying to sort out his life, Diana arrives with six smuggled emeralds in tow and is immediately welcomed by several hired assassins. Fear and expediency propel her into Ed's car, and the two are off on a series of narrow escapes that has them pursued by everyone from Iranians to baddies played by well-known international directors (Roger Vadim) or singers (David Bowie) or comedians (Dan Aykroyd). ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Judy Bernly (Jane Fonda), a housewife whose husband has left her for his secretary, begins her own secretarial career at a huge corporation. Violet Newstead (Lily Tomlin), a feisty, veteran office manager, instructs her on the perils and procedures of office life -- and of working for Franklin Hart Jr. (Dabney Coleman), their chauvinistic, sleazy boss, and his right-hand woman, the crisp, nosy Roz (Elizabeth Wilson). Meanwhile, Hart's endless attempts to seduce his happily married secretary, Doralee Rhodes (Dolly Parton), lead the entire office to think she's a trollop. When Hart unfairly passes Violet over for a promotion, she drowns her sorrows at a local bar with Judy and Doralee, who regales the others with tales of Hart's epic advances. Later, at Doralee's house, the women smoke pot, eat barbecue, and concoct hilarious revenge fantasies -- a rodeo hog-tie, a Wild West shootout, and a gothic Snow White scenario -- about killing their boss. When a mix-up leads the women to think they have accidentally poisoned Hart's coffee, they hatch a scheme to protect themselves by stealing Hart's body from the morgue. When he turns up alive, never having drunk the coffee, they must kidnap him to prevent him from blackmailing them or calling the police. The women then use the occasion of their boss' absence to effect some changes around the office. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

While taking a train trip from L.A. to Chicago, mild-mannered George Caldwell (Gene Wilder) makes the acquaintance of Hilly Burns (Jill Clayburgh). As they indulge in a brief bit of spooning, Hilly tells George that her boss is on the verge of exposing a group of vicious art forgers. Later that evening, George sees the body of Hilly's boss being thrown off of the train. Detective Sweet (Ned Beatty) agrees to investigate, but he too is bumped off. The instigator of these outrages is master forger Roger Devereau (Patrick McGoohan), who, with his crony Mr. Whiney (Ray Walston) is planning a particularly diabolical crime. Worse still, they take Hilly prisoner so she can't tip off the cops. When George is also targeted for elimination, he manages in slapstick fashion to elude the killers. Falling off the train, he ends up being arrested on some trumped-up charge or other by a local sheriff. He makes his escape in the company of petty thief Grover Muldoon (Richard Pryor) -- and that's only the beginning. A box-office smash, Silver Streak paved the way for the equally successful 1980 Wilder-Pryor vehicle Stir Crazy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A young man with a death wish and a 79-year-old high on life find love in Hal Ashby's cult black comedy. Deadpan rich boy Harold (Bud Cort) keeps staging elaborate suicide tableaux to get the attention of his mother (Vivian Pickles), but she keeps planning his brilliant future for him instead. Obsessed with the trappings of death, Harold freaks out his blind dates, modifies his new sports car to look like a mini-hearse, and attends funerals, where he meets the spirited Maude (Ruth Gordon). An eccentric to the core, Maude lives exactly as she pleases, with avid collecting and nude modeling among her many pursuits. To the disgust of Harold's relatives and the befuddlement of Harold's shrink, Harold falls in love with her. As lilting Cat Stevens tunes play on the soundtrack, Maude teaches Harold a valuable lesson about making the most of his time on earth. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi