The Dream Team (1989) Reviews

• Rise, my son, and walk!

  billyfish2003-06-25

  If you like Michael Keaton, Peter Boyle, or Christopher Lloyd, you will like this film. That's guaranteed. But even if you are not fans of the aforementioned talents, I think you will still enjoy this movie. Keaton is at his sarcastic best with his role as a guy with anger problems. It's easy to empathize with him, especially in the situations he finds himself in. I don't know of any other contemporary actor who could deliver these lines with the same effect. Similarly, Peter Boyle surpasses his performance in "Young Frankenstein" with his comedic portrayal of a man who believes he is Jesus Christ. His walk through a hospital is not to be missed! Lloyd plays the control-freak authority figure wannabe with finesse. It would be difficult indeed to watch this talented comedic actor play a straight role. Stephen Furst is excellent as a man who can only speak in baseball metaphors. Where the hell has he been since Animal House? The plot is weak and quite predictable, but the lines delivered along the way are worth the effort. One of the great sleepers.

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• Neat little comedy.

  boris-262001-11-19

  In the hands of lesser a director and less talented actors, THE DREAM TEAM's plot about four mental patients loose in Manhattan would be silly and childish. Here, it is funny as hell, you stayed glued to the screen. The four patients are Michael Keaton, as a loose tempered but charming liar, Peter Boyle as an ex-executive who now believes he is Jesus Christ, Christopher Lloyd as a compulsive neat-nick and Stephen Furst as a catatonic TV commercial/Baseball fan. Their run-ins with unsuspecting New Yorkers come fast and fresh, no re-heated gags here. Look for a young perky Lorraine Bracco and Broadway great Phillip Bosco in supporting parts.

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• Peter Boyle is a comic genius

  drosse672003-12-23

  I mean it. After seeing him in this movie, and Young Frankensteeen, and the occasional episode of Everybody Loves Raymond, I can't take him seriously in movies like Joe, Outland and even as Wizard in Taxi Driver. His performance in this movie is absolutely hilarious. I've always had a soft spot for this underrated gem. It's basically a screwball version of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," using that movie's famous baseball game scene as its starting point: An easy-going doctor takes his patients to a Yankees game, and runs into trouble on the way there. And I don't really mind the crime subplot here as much as I did in Three Men and a Baby. Everyone shines here--Michael Keaton (his reference to the World Trade Center was funny then, bittersweet now); Christopher Lloyd; Boyle; even Lorraine Bracco, in a small role. And it's full of memorable quotes. This movie never fails to put a smile on my face.

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• Lunatics On The Loose

  ccthemovieman-12008-03-27

  This was a humorous film about a small group of mental patients who are let loose in New York City for a day. They are "Jack" (Peter Boyle), "Henry" (Christopher Lloyd), "Billy" (Michael Keaton).and "Albert" (Stephen Furst). Actually, they are taken to a ballgame and the doctor in charge of them is kidnapped there, after he witnesses a crime. The boys are are now on their own in a "lost in New York" scenario. Mainly, this film is a bunch of sight gags more than a cohesive story. Boyle, Lloyd and Keaton are all, by now, well-known actors who bring a lot of life to their characters here. It's a lot of silliness but, for the most part, works and provides a lot of laughs. As a baseball fan, I appreciated Furst's performance best. Peter Boyle ("Jack McDermott") plays one of several insane people who are "lost in New York" and are out on the streets having a good time. He is a "Jesus freak," which the screenwriters consider nuts, of course. He and other churchgoers are pictured in the movies as lunatics. Gosh, what a shock Hollywood would do that. They also have crooked cops in here - another shock. The film still had a lot of funny moments, thanks to the actors and the interesting premise of mental patients fending for themselves in the big city. It's total lunacy.

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• Stephen Furst needs to get more roles

  lee_eisenberg2006-10-02

  It's good to know that some movies are just big excuses to be goofy. "The Dream Team" is one such example. We get introduced to four mental patients: Billy Caulfield (Michael Keaton) is actually close to normal, Henry Sikorsky (Christopher Lloyd) believes himself to be a doctor, Jack McDermott (Peter Boyle) believes that he's talking to Jesus, and Albert Ianuzzi (Stephen Furst (yes, Flounder from "Animal House"!)) barely does anything. When their psychiatrist takes them to New York, he gets attacked by the mafia and the four patients are left to fend for themselves. From there, it's basically two hours of everyone being as loony as possible. Probably the best scene is the box scene; I nearly died laughing when that scene came up. Anyway, this just goes to show what one can do for comedy. It's not to be missed. Also starring Dennis Boutsikaris and Lorraine Bracco.

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