The Man with One Red Shoe

Starring: Tom Hanks, Lori Singer, Charles Durning, Jim Belushi, Carrie Fisher
Directed by: Stan Dragoti
Rating: PG
Genre: Comedy
1985

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: In a clever plot to throw one another off, two CIA groups battle over an innocent man (Tom Hanks), chosen because he was wearing one red shoe at an airport. One group believes he is of utmost importance to the other, so they try to discover why and ultimately, to get rid of him. The man befriends one of the CIA agents (Lori Singer), and although he is clueless to everything happening around him, he manages to give both CIA groups all they can handle.

Review:

Tim: This is not a bad comedy, but not a very good one, either. The premise is solid and provides enough entertainment to keep us interested throughout. However, the movie is too silly and ridiculous to be very good.

Tom Hanks is decent as the titular character. He plays it pretty straight, and is good in an innocent, completely unaware manner. There are a few moments when his star potential comes through.

The supporting cast is somewhat weak. Lori Singer is decent, and is James Belushi. Carrie Fisher actually has a few good moments and has more chemistry with Hanks than Singer does. Her Tarzan routine is pretty funny, too. The rest of the cast is ridiculous and border on awful.

The film's strongest aspects are when Hanks narrowly escapes plots to hurt him. He absentmindly thwarts attempt after attempt to get the upper hand on him, clueless the entire time. The funniest moments are when the spying agents interpret Hanks's actions to be much more than they really are. This comedy of errors is where the film shines. The worst part of the film is how bumbling and idiotic it makes the government look. The U.S. would have been taken over by a foreign country (or Canada) by now if our spies were this stupid.

The Man with One Red Shoe has a few laughs, but it would be very difficult to call this movie "good."

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 6.5



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