Another You

This article is about the film. For other uses, see Another You (disambiguation).
Another You
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMaurice Phillips
Written byZiggy Steinberg
Produced byZiggy Steinberg
Starring
CinematographyVictor J. Kemper
Edited byDennis M. Hill
Music byCharles Gross
Production
company
Distributed byTri-Star Pictures
Release date
  • July 26, 1991 (1991-07-26)
Running time
94 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$17 million
Box office$2.9 million

Another You is a 1991 American comedy film directed by Maurice Phillips and produced and written by Ziggy Steinberg. It stars Richard Pryor, Gene Wilder, Mercedes Ruehl, Vanessa Williams and Kevin Pollak. It was released in the United States July 26, 1991.

A critical and box-office failure, it was the fourth and last film in which Pryor and Wilder starred together, beginning with Silver Streak in 1976. It was also the last film in which both actors had a leading role, as well as Wilder's final appearance in a theatrical film.

Plot[edit]

George, a former mental patient and pathological liar, is released from the hospital. He is quickly and purposefully mistaken for millionaire brewery heir Abe Fielding by a troupe of actors hired by Rupert Dibbs, an unscrupulous business manager. Rupert needs George to believe that he is Fielding in an attempt to kill him and inherit the Fielding Brewery and family fortune.

Eddie Dash, a con man, tenuously befriends George due to a community service assignment. At first, he attempts to capitalize on George's mistaken identity, but after being pressured by Rupert to kill George for profit, he turns the tables on Rupert and helps George fake his death, just to come back to the land of the living to inherit both the brewery and the Fielding fortune instead.

Along the way, Eddie and George turn two of Rupert's female associates into allies and partners, while getting themselves into plenty of chaos.

Cast[edit]

Production[edit]

The film was released five years after Pryor revealed that he had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and his physical deterioration is evident in this film.[1][2] Pryor said that he "got personally and professionally fucked on that film. They fired the director and hired another ego. I was told I wasn't going to have to reshoot scenes but the new ego had me do it anyway. That's when I discovered things weren't going well for me professionally."[3]

Peter Bogdanovich was the original director, but he was replaced after five weeks of shooting in New York.[4] On the last night of location filming, he received a phone call from his agent near midnight, letting him know that he was being replaced. After reviewing footage with the replacement director, it was determined that none of the New York footage was usable, and the script was rewritten to be shot entirely in Los Angeles.[5] The movie was shot and completed in Los Angeles, and none of Bogdanovich's footage was used.[5] Ironically, Bogdanovich had also been an early candidate to direct Silver Streak, Wilder and Pryor's first film pairing,[6] but was ousted in favor of Arthur Hiller.

In 2016, on Gilbert Gottfried's podcast (Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast!), Bogdanovich described how he and Gene Wilder did not get along, because Bogdanovich devoted most of his time and energy to Richard Pryor, due to his health issues.[7] Although Bogdanovich claimed that the film had been greenlit only because he had gotten Pryor involved (the studio apparently did not want Wilder to star alone), he believed that it was Wilder who successfully campaigned to have him replaced with another director.[7] Gottfried was cast in the Bogdanovich version of the film, but he was dropped when it was reshot.[7]

Reception[edit]

Another You was a box-office failure.[8] It ranks among the top thirty widely released films for having the biggest second weekend drop at the box office, dropping 78.1% from $1,537,965 to $334,836.[9] It has a 5% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 21 reviews. The consensus summarizes: "So stubbornly unfunny that not even a reunited Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder are enough to give it a spark, Another You is worse than none at all."[10] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "C" on a scale of A+ to F.[11]

Stephen Holden of The New York Times called the film "a frantically incoherent comedy" with a screenplay that "jabbers along in ways that even Mr. Wilder, who carries the brunt of the dialogue, cannot make amusing. Mr. Pryor's role is paltry and his dialogue scant. When all else fails, he is reduced to repeating obscenities."[12]

Joseph McBride of Variety wrote that "producer Ziggy Steinberg's feeble script is given slapdash direction by the man who replaced Peter Bogdanovich on what is billed 'a film by Maurice Phillips' (the best joke in the film)... Though Pryor shows old flashes of his old comic brilliance and charm, it's painful to see how his health problems have affected him in this role."[13]

Michael Wilmington of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Producer-writer Ziggy Steinberg's script is like a stone tied around the movie's neck that sinks it, despite all those gaudy, glossy balloons pulling it up."[14]

Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film half of one star out of four, calling it a "completely worthless comedy" with "no laughs".[15]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Frolick, Billy (1992-10-25). "Back in the Ring : Multiple sclerosis seemingly had Richard Pryor down for the count, but a return to his roots has revitalized the giant of stand-up". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-07-09.
  2. ^ Upton, Julian (December 10, 2017). "Extinguishing Features: The Last Years of Richard Pryor". Bright Lights Film Journal.
  3. ^ "Richard Pryor". Ebony. Johnson Publishing Company. September 1993. p. 104.
  4. ^ Variety Staff (1 January 1991). "Review: 'Another You'". Variety. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  5. ^ a b theStudioTour - Another You (1991) thestudiotour.com
  6. ^ Wygant, Bobbie (May 29, 2020). "Peter Bogdanovich for "Texasville" 9/22/90 - Bobbie Wygant Archive" (video). YouTube. The Bobbie Wygant Archive.
  7. ^ a b c Gottfried, Gilbert; Santopadre, Frank (13 June 2016). "Peter Bogdanovich". Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast (Podcast). Gilbert Gottfried. Event occurs at 2:45. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  8. ^ Fox, David J. (1991-07-30). "Weekend Box Office : 'Mobsters' Is the Only Solid Opener -". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  9. ^ "Biggest Second Weekend Drops". boxofficemojo.com. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
  10. ^ "Another You". Rotten Tomatoes.
  11. ^ "Cinemascore". Archived from the original on 2018-12-20.
  12. ^ Holden, Stephen (1991-07-27). "Movie Review - Another You; A Reformed Liar and a Con Man". New York Times. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  13. ^ McBride, Joseph (August 5, 1991). "Reviews: Another You". Variety. 92-93.
  14. ^ Wilmington, Michael (1991-07-29). "MOVIE REVIEW : 'Another You': Happy, Dopey, Snappy, Empty". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  15. ^ Siskel, Gene (August 2, 1991). "Siskel's Flicks Picks". Chicago Tribune. Section 7, p. C.

External links[edit]

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