Before there was 'Dumb and Dumber' there was 'Rubin and Ed'. The plot lines between the two movies have striking similarities. Both movies feature two male characters embarking upon a long road trip. In 'Dumb and Dumber' the road trip that Harry and Lloyd take centers around their quest to return a suitcase filled with money to its rightful owner, a beautiful girl living in Aspen, Colorado. In 'Rubin and Ed' things work pretty much the same as they do in 'Dumb and Dumber', except that you would have to obviously replace Harry and Lloyd with Rubin and Ed, then you would have to substitute the suitcase full of money with a frozen dead cat in a green 1960's Coleman Cooler. Oh yes, and then change the beautiful girl living in Aspen, Colorado into the mysterious 'Echo People' not living in a cave somewhere in the Utah desert. Well, perhaps those examples are not striking similarities, but really, what's the point in trying to explain 'Rubin and Ed'?
I don't know where to start, but I think the strongest appeal of this movie is that it offers without any apology, a vastly different movie watching experience, more different and bizarre than any you may ever see. I think at its heart, it really tries to convey the story of two misfits from society, who are equally different from one another, teaming up together, though at times literally miles apart, on a journey to put something that is blocking their progress in life behind them or under them, and thereby getting ahead to the next level. In this case, Rubin needs to bury his cat and make a new friend, while Ed needs to confront the powerful forces of his own failures in life: his wife and through his miserable job, his boss.
The movie features many disturbing and strange images that will most certainly resonate inside your head for weeks after you've watched the movie. Two that come immediately to mind is when Rubin's cat is water skiing during a dream sequence, and of course any scene where Rubin is drinking from a Coleman Cooler. The movie also has its fair share of memorable lines, mostly bizarre observations from Rubin like, "My cat can eat a whole watermelon", or "I am king of the Echo People".
Yes, there are a few things to like about 'Rubin and Ed', for one it is a movie that features Howard Hesseman farting intermittently, it's also a movie that is not at all ashamed in its use of wigs for its principal stars, and most importantly it's a movie that is dedicated to Peter Boyle.
Although it has its share of chuckles and grins along with the many moments of bizarre yuk ups throughout, the movie is ultimately dogged down with an interminable pacing. 'Rubin and Ed' may have fared better if it was pared down to an hour. Even at its current length, coming in a little less than 90 minutes, 'Rubin and Ed' feels like it's easily two hours long. I believe this is in part why Rubin and Ed became box office road kill upon its release in 1991 and why it still is not released on DVD to this day, despite its small cult following. Perhaps when the college kids of today begin to realize that the 'Goonies' is a crap movie, it can make way for the likes or 'Rubin and Ed' on the midnight movie circuit?
That being said, I have to admit that I didn't like this film. I really didn't think it was very funny. And I was bored through most of it.
If you want to see a better film that is almost as slow, a little bit funnier, that also stars two men who spend an entire movie wandering through the desert, try watching 'Ishtar'. Or you can watch the very under-appreciated, 'Withnail and I'. It also features two guys bantering at each other for most of the movie and it has funnier lines and much better acting. Or you can try watching 'Midnight Run'. That movie features great back and forth repartee from Robert DeNiro and Charles Grodin. It's not nearly as bizarre as 'Rubin and Ed', but it's surprisingly hilarious and it has something in its title that someday even Rubin and Ed may have to look forward to; a 'Midnight Run'.
4/10. Clark Richards
I don't know where to start, but I think the strongest appeal of this movie is that it offers without any apology, a vastly different movie watching experience, more different and bizarre than any you may ever see. I think at its heart, it really tries to convey the story of two misfits from society, who are equally different from one another, teaming up together, though at times literally miles apart, on a journey to put something that is blocking their progress in life behind them or under them, and thereby getting ahead to the next level. In this case, Rubin needs to bury his cat and make a new friend, while Ed needs to confront the powerful forces of his own failures in life: his wife and through his miserable job, his boss.
The movie features many disturbing and strange images that will most certainly resonate inside your head for weeks after you've watched the movie. Two that come immediately to mind is when Rubin's cat is water skiing during a dream sequence, and of course any scene where Rubin is drinking from a Coleman Cooler. The movie also has its fair share of memorable lines, mostly bizarre observations from Rubin like, "My cat can eat a whole watermelon", or "I am king of the Echo People".
Yes, there are a few things to like about 'Rubin and Ed', for one it is a movie that features Howard Hesseman farting intermittently, it's also a movie that is not at all ashamed in its use of wigs for its principal stars, and most importantly it's a movie that is dedicated to Peter Boyle.
Although it has its share of chuckles and grins along with the many moments of bizarre yuk ups throughout, the movie is ultimately dogged down with an interminable pacing. 'Rubin and Ed' may have fared better if it was pared down to an hour. Even at its current length, coming in a little less than 90 minutes, 'Rubin and Ed' feels like it's easily two hours long. I believe this is in part why Rubin and Ed became box office road kill upon its release in 1991 and why it still is not released on DVD to this day, despite its small cult following. Perhaps when the college kids of today begin to realize that the 'Goonies' is a crap movie, it can make way for the likes or 'Rubin and Ed' on the midnight movie circuit?
That being said, I have to admit that I didn't like this film. I really didn't think it was very funny. And I was bored through most of it.
If you want to see a better film that is almost as slow, a little bit funnier, that also stars two men who spend an entire movie wandering through the desert, try watching 'Ishtar'. Or you can watch the very under-appreciated, 'Withnail and I'. It also features two guys bantering at each other for most of the movie and it has funnier lines and much better acting. Or you can try watching 'Midnight Run'. That movie features great back and forth repartee from Robert DeNiro and Charles Grodin. It's not nearly as bizarre as 'Rubin and Ed', but it's surprisingly hilarious and it has something in its title that someday even Rubin and Ed may have to look forward to; a 'Midnight Run'.
4/10. Clark Richards