The Beverly Hillbillies

"The Beverly Hillbilles" is a disappointment for two reasons: (a), it comes from Penelope Spheeris, who brought us the funny "Wayne's World," and (b), it fails miserably at catching the charm of the television show. Yet with all the negative points of the film, it still manages to come of silly in its own way; it's a bad movie, but not a particularly harmful one, on the other hand. The late Jim Varney plays Jed Clampett, who--as all we all know--discovers some oil out in Arkansas, becomes a millionaire, and moves his family out to Beverly Hills, California. This is the excuse for some half-brained and ultimately stupid gags that sometimes become so bad it's hard to watch, yet make up for themselves when the film starts to make fun of itself. Jim Varney fits Jed pretty well, but too many of the actors and actresses seem forced and the dialogue is reminiscent of a straight-to-television flick written by authors with Writer's Block. Too much of the film borrows from other films we've seen before--and the gags have been done in those films about ten times better. The cast is top-o'-the-notch, co-starring the likes of Lea Thompson, Cloris Leachmen, Dolly Parton, Rob Schneider, Dabney Coleman, and even the real Buddy Ebson in a cameo. But a cameo by Buddy Ebson cannot save a badly written film. There really is no excuse for why this film was so bad. It had a good director, an overall good cast, a good script-writer, some good cameos, and good potential for some parody. But instead it comes off dull, recycled and misused, and ultimately a rehash of everything we've seen before, done in a childish and cartoonish way. So, yes, there are some good parts in the film, but it's not worth sitting through the rest of the film to see them. 1.5/5 stars - John Ulmer

When he is out hunting, Arkansas bumpkin Jed Clampett strikes oil on his own land. It doesn't take long for the oil companies to get wind of the largest domestic oil reserve in recent history and before you can say "Texas T", they have bought him out to the tune of one billion dollars (US$ though – but still a lot of money). Jed packs up his family and heads out for the lifestyle that he can now afford in Beverly Hills. His new bank manager, Milburn Drysdale expects his new billionaire clients to be the height of breeding and sophistication and is surprised to find that although the Clampetts are "salt of the earth" people, they aren't really "Beverly Hills" material. One of countless remakes of TV series of yesteryear, this basic, bland and unfunny affair is probably no better or worse than the average television show original but where that has the benefit of nostalgia to strengthen it, this film is left totally exposed in the cold light of modern American cinema. Without this protection the film must stand on its own thanks to a slick narrative, lots of laughs and so on. Sadly the makers seem to have forgotten this and the plot is a predictable and forced narrative along the lines of "little people makin' good". I wanted to care about Jed's search for a wife, or worry about whether he would have his money scammed away, or hope that Elly May can be allowed to be herself but really I couldn't bring myself to give a monkey's at any point. A bit of a problem when it then comes to following a story but then, hey, at least I'll be laughing too hard to care about the detail. Well, not really. The comedy here is very basic and seems happy to just rely totally on how stupid Jethro is; how tomboyish Elly is; how old Granny is and how everyone else either slaps their forehead with frustration at these characteristics or just do pratfalls over furniture. Attempts at postmodernism are mostly very lazy and lack any inspiration or genuine wit. It might appeal to children but it was all too little for me. The cast aren't able to help much but in fairness several of them are used to operating at this level. The late Varney is actually pretty restrained but this doesn't mean he is funny or produces a good character – because he can't. However he looks like Lawrence Olivier next to the mugging ineptitude of Bader, who seems to have been told that "looking confused with a big stupid smile on your face" will produce the type of comedy gold that will stand for all time. He is terrible of course but I do know he is only following direction. Eleniak is a tomboy, and that's about it – she never convinces but then so what? Leachman is told to be old and indeed she is, Schneider is bad even by his standards; Thompson's performance makes "Allo, Allo" look like an Open University programme and Coleman clearly needs cash and needs it now (or then I suppose). Tomlin is very out of place but at least she seems to be having fun with it – I'm glad one of us was. Overall then, for those who want to watch old television comedies without the blinkers of nostalgia then this is one good way because it exposes the film for what it is – a poorly developed unfunny comedy. Nobody in it can raise the material and instead they are pulled down with it like so many pilots in a nose-diving aircraft; I guess the only difference is that the pilots would be struggling to pull out of the dive whereas here the cast mostly seem blissfully happy to mug along as it spirals ever downwards. A pointless 90 minutes of my evening that gave me nothing back in return for my investment.

This movie is in the unique position where by it both sucks and blows.....it really is that bad. IN fact I will stick my neck out here and say that this is the worst movie I have ever seen. I just dont understand how when there are so many other opportunities to spend a few million quid some one saw fit to spend it making this .....shame on you Hollywood!!!!!

As my summary says, this is one of the worst films I've seen my entire life!!! This was supposed to be a comedy and the big problem is that it's not funny! At least I don't think it is! The acting and the story telling is told in a way that they give the impression that the viewers are stupid and it's all slapstick and super corny humor! I only laughed two times during this movie! One of the times was when Diedrich Bader was bowling and the other time was when he was dancing at a wedding or something like that. All in all, a terrible, terrible movie that I can't recommend anyone in the world to see!

The Beverly Hillbillies is one of the greatest TV sitcoms of all time. However this remake sadly falls way short. It may even be one of the worst films ever made. The film following it's opening sequence with Jed striking oil and then the familiar ballad goes nowhere after that. Although Jim Varney does do an admirable job as Jed Clampett. It appeared at times that every entire episode of the classic TV series was trying to be compressed into this film. The famous cast of characters from the TV series simply can not be played by any one other than the original actors and actresses i.e. No one other than Max Baer can play Jethro Bodine. Do yourself a favor and pass on this one and find the original TV series on a channel featuring reruns and enjoy those instead.

Jim Varney, Cloris Leachman, Lea Thompson, Dabney Coleman, Lily Tomlin, Erika Eleniak, Deidrich Bader, and Rob Schneider star in this absolutely great movie. Every single moment in this movie is hilarious. Jim Varney is great as Jed Clampett who becomes a billionaire once he strikes oil and then decides to move his family to Beverly Hills. Soon Jed finds that people are trying to steal his money. This movie is really funny and features cameos by Dolly Parton, Buddy Ebsen, and Zsa Zsa Gabor. You'll laugh really hard.

You shouldn't go into watching this movie thinking you'll get something great or novel. After all, it IS based on the silly old TV series, which I thoroughly enjoyed back then. Erika Eleniak, former Playboy model, who plays Ellie May, is strikingly beautiful and does a fine job in this role. The late Jim Varney is also very good as Jed Clampett, Lily Tomlin is good in her role. Lea Thompson (first of Back To The Future fame) shows her acting range in a role as the scheming "French teacher" out to get Jed's money. I didn't particularly care for Rob Schneider's role, but wat the heck. Still, anyone who enjoyed the TV series should have fun watching this film.