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Outrageous Fortune Reviews

1987 DVD Certificate 15.gif
  • Rated:
  • 70
  • from 1281 members

Two struggling actresses are forced together in a dangerous CIA plot that takes them across the country in a wild comic adventure. The objects of their chase - a two-timing romeo and a deadly poisonous bacteria that could destroy the world... Read more

Starring Bette Midler, Shelley Long, Peter Coyote, George Carlin
Director Arthur Hiller
Genres Comedy

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  • Critics' reviews (3) of Outrageous Fortune

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  • 3 stars out of 5

    Bette Midler and Cheers star Shelley Long team up for this buddy-buddy comedy to play two women from different sides of the tracks who find they have the same two-timing boyfriend (Peter Coyote, in a serious piece of miscasting — it's hard to believe one woman would be after him, let alone two). Director Arthur Hiller manages to keep the action and comedy rolling along at a fairly boisterous rate, and he's helped considerably by the assured performances of Midler and Long, who refuse to let the humour lapse for a second.

    • Radio Times
  • Lauren (Long) and Sandy (Midler) share the same two-timing lover (Coyote), a fact they only discover after he has... read more on Time Out

    • Time Out
  • 1 stars out of 4

    Chase comedy with sex elements and plenty going on: old-fashioned jokes wrapped up in a modern package.

    • Halliwell's Film Guide
  • Most helpful members' reviews (3) of Outrageous Fortune

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  • 2 out of 2 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    Outrageously Funny

    Classic 1980s comedy with Bette Midler and Shelly Long as perfectly matched adversaries who both think they have found Mr. Right. The only problem being its the same Mr. Right, and then he stages his own death!

    What follows is a mad-cap chase as they try to find him in order to confront him. Somehow the CIA, KGB and assorted under cover agents get involved.

    Fast paced and funny, the film slips by quickly and you will want to watch it again.

      • P King from West of England
  • 1 out of 1 person found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars

    Very Much an 80's Classic

    This film is brilliant slapstick through and through.

    Bette Midler and Shelly Long both revel in playing polar opposite characters and that is the reason this film is so watchable.

    The plot is total non-sense, the costumes are 'so' 80's the continuity people must have been drunk but all this adds to the laughs and helps us see the actresses shine.

    Best scene: Midler and Longs comedy attempt to pretend to be cops: Cagney and Lacey wannabe - hilarious!

    ENJOY over and over!

      • A customer from UK
  • 1 out of 1 person found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars

    very good considering

    ah the good ol days of screwball comedy, this relys heavily on its two lead stars, considering Bette Midlers and er... Shelly Longs career history this could have bombed but they actually prove quite effective playing two very different actresses who form a very unlikely friendship. Midler is Loud Mouthed and Crued which contrasts with Longs sweet nature. This really is worth a watch even if it is all a little bit cheasy

      • Sean Letman from the midlands
  • Most recent members' reviews (2) of Outrageous Fortune

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  • 2 out of 2 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    Outrageously Funny

    Classic 1980s comedy with Bette Midler and Shelly Long as perfectly matched adversaries who both think they have found Mr. Right. The only problem being its the same Mr. Right, and then he stages his own death!

    What follows is a mad-cap chase as they try to find him in order to confront him. Somehow the CIA, KGB and assorted under cover agents get involved.

    Fast paced and funny, the film slips by quickly and you will want to watch it again.

      • P King from West of England
  • Rated - 4 stars

    Outrageous Fortune

    This was my wifes selection because she thinks bette midler is the bees knees of actresses, I do add that she enjoyed it very much, and I thought it was quite good, so she rated it a four rating, but I would have only given it three, the best movie of bette midlers is definitely ruthless people by a mile, that is why I bought it.

      • A customer from England
  • 2 out of 2 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    Outrageously Funny

    Classic 1980s comedy with Bette Midler and Shelly Long as perfectly matched adversaries who both think they have found Mr. Right. The only problem being its the same Mr. Right, and then he stages his own death!

    What follows is a mad-cap chase as they try to find him in order to confront him. Somehow the CIA, KGB and assorted under cover agents get involved.

    Fast paced and funny, the film slips by quickly and you will want to watch it again.

      • P King from West of England
  • 1 out of 1 person found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars

    Very Much an 80's Classic

    This film is brilliant slapstick through and through.

    Bette Midler and Shelly Long both revel in playing polar opposite characters and that is the reason this film is so watchable.

    The plot is total non-sense, the costumes are 'so' 80's the continuity people must have been drunk but all this adds to the laughs and helps us see the actresses shine.

    Best scene: Midler and Longs comedy attempt to pretend to be cops: Cagney and Lacey wannabe - hilarious!

    ENJOY over and over!

      • A customer from UK
  • 1 out of 1 person found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars

    very good considering

    ah the good ol days of screwball comedy, this relys heavily on its two lead stars, considering Bette Midlers and er... Shelly Longs career history this could have bombed but they actually prove quite effective playing two very different actresses who form a very unlikely friendship. Midler is Loud Mouthed and Crued which contrasts with Longs sweet nature. This really is worth a watch even if it is all a little bit cheasy

      • Sean Letman from the midlands
  • Rated - 4 stars

    Outrageous Fortune

    This was my wifes selection because she thinks bette midler is the bees knees of actresses, I do add that she enjoyed it very much, and I thought it was quite good, so she rated it a four rating, but I would have only given it three, the best movie of bette midlers is definitely ruthless people by a mile, that is why I bought it.

      • A customer from England
  • Rated - 5 stars

    A LAUGH A MINUTE

    THE PHRASE BETTE IS BEST IS SO TRUE WITH THIS 80'S CLASSIC.

    THE TEAMING OF MIDLER AND LONG WAS PURE GENIUS.

    WITHOUT DOUBT THEIR BEST FILM.

      • GARABALDI. from UK
  • Rated - 3 stars

    Good but doesn't hold up well.

    Midler and Long work very well together in this 80's comedy. Although their performances are very good, the film has unfortunately not aged very well. The set pieces are well played and the parts that do hold up are very funny. Enjoyed this immensely the first time around, but not as much twenty years later. Still it's fun.

      • Keith Chawgo from London, England
  • Rated - 4 stars

    Cheered me up

    Watched this while I had the flu in bed, it made me feel much better, just a bit of nostalgic fun for rainy afternoons.

      • A customer from London
  • Rated - 5 stars

    Outrageous Hilarity

    Combining Shelly Long and Bette Middler - genius bit of casting that works oh so well! Watch it!

      • A customer from London
  • Rated - 5 stars

    Outrageously good

    Teaming up Bette Midler and Shelley Long proves to be one of Hollywood's best ideas yet. Showing a love triangle to an extreme, this is the perfect movie to watch for a pick me up when he has broken your heart.

    The complete opposites, Lauren (Long) and Sandy (Midler) fall for the same man (Peter Coyote). But when the two-timer is caught out by his two mistresses, they hunt him down to make him choose which one of them he loves. But things do not go as the two hopeless lovers plan, and they find themselves befriending each other to bail out of the danger they find themselves in.

      • Shez seen them all from Essex, England
  • Rated - 5 stars

    WOW!

    One of the funniest comedys I saw! Bettie Midler RULE!

      • Vitaly from London
  • Critics' reviews (3)

  • 3 stars out of 5

    Bette Midler and Cheers star Shelley Long team up for this buddy-buddy comedy to play two women from different sides of the tracks who find they have the same two-timing boyfriend (Peter Coyote, in a serious piece of miscasting — it's hard to believe one woman would be after him, let alone two). Director Arthur Hiller manages to keep the action and comedy rolling along at a fairly boisterous rate, and he's helped considerably by the assured performances of Midler and Long, who refuse to let the humour lapse for a second.

    • Radio Times
  • Lauren (Long) and Sandy (Midler) share the same two-timing lover (Coyote), a fact they only discover after he has... read more on Time Out

    • Time Out
  • 1 stars out of 4

    Chase comedy with sex elements and plenty going on: old-fashioned jokes wrapped up in a modern package.

    • Halliwell's Film Guide

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    • Two struggling actresses are forced together in a dangerous CIA plot that takes them across the country in a wild comic adventure. The objects of their chase - a two-timing romeo and a deadly ...

Rating breakdown

1,281 Member ratings
  • 100
137
  • 90
69
  • 80
207
  • 70
267
  • 60
273
  • 50
128
  • 40
90
  • 30
48
  • 20
46
  • 10
16

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