The Check Is in the Mail... (1986) User Reviews

The price of life... (spoilers)

[vertigo_14 · 6/10 · 23 November 2004]

The Check is in the Mail reminds me a lot of a little-known early 80s movie called Packin' It In in which Richard Benjamin plays a husband and father who, absolutely fed up with city-life (in that 'Prisoners of Second Avenue' kind of way) and all of its nuisances, decides to move his family to the country for some good IL' backwoods survivalism. This theme shows up again in the Albert Brooks/Julie Hagerty comedy, Lost In America, in which a husband, distraught with his yuppie life not going as planned, encourages his wife to join him and cash in all of their chips to buy an RV and live the nomadic life, Easy Rider style (sort of). The Check is in the Mail is about yet another husband/father (played by Brian Dennehy) who becomes beaten by the price of living, that he declares war on the system.

It is a certain brand of eighties comedy (aside from the theme). You know, those goofy, cheap 80s comedies with the illustrated box covers. This one, in particular models humor along the lines of the Beverly D'Angelo comedy, 'Finders Keepers' (which coincidentally also features Dennehy in a supporting role). Not side-splittingly funny, but a story that is somewhat off-the-wall (despite following a thematic trend). It's amusing light comedy, and worth a shot if you can find it.

A complete mess of a comedy

[kylejmcelravy · 5/10 · 21 October 2015]

Boy, where do I begin? The VHS cover art might tell you it's supposed to be a screwball comedy, but the actual movie doesn't even come close. First of all, Brian Dennehy and Anne Archer, both miscast in the roles of the couple, are not even comic actors. It seems they don't even try for the film's 83 minute running time. The script by Robert Kaufman was good, just not handled correctly. If we could picture Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo in the roles maybe it could have been better.

Richard Jackson (Dennehy) is a pharmacist in southern California whose financial situation is not good (maxed out credit cards, unlimited piles of bills, owing money to a loan shark, etc.) So one day, he decides to shut off the electricity, use farm animals to supply fresh eggs and milk, and lives off the land frugally, but it isn't long before their friends turn against them, especially in the film's second act, the actual plot doesn't even start until about 45 minutes in!

Even the supporting cast (Hallie Todd, Chris Hebert, Michael Bowen) and familiar faces appearing in cameos, Greg Mullavey as Richard's long time car salesman friend, Harry. Beau Starr as a vicious loan shark. Dick Shawn in a wasted role as a goof-ball neighbor and TV director and former Woody Allen protégé Howard Storm as a psychiatrist who meets a unfunny portrayed demise, can't even save this movie.

All in all, not a very good film considering the short running time, it's low-budget feel, ragged editing, and poor casting choices. No surprise it got a scant theatrical release in the mid-'80s (it was completed in 1984), and a poor home video history (only appeared on VHS and Beta). Maybe a director's cut, with better editing, will happen in the future.

Not gonna take it anymore!

[actionfilm-2 · 4/10 · 16 January 2011]

Entertaining comedy worth a viewing. Brian Dennehy carries the film and does so quite well. Simply put, he portrays a guy, pharmacist by profession, who we see endure life's daily hardships and eventually gets fed up with the "system", finally deciding to fight back by throwing out his phones, light bulbs, shutting off the water, refusing to use electricity, etc. It's amusing to see, relatively speaking, how tolerant his family is and how they submit to his authority as head of the household. I'm sure this is laughable to many of today's audiences considering the declining lack of respect for the role of the father (admittedly sometimes justified, but certainly not in the general sense) and how the traditional nuclear family is perhaps near extinction. At any rate, though it does resort to one or two moments of slapstick as well as a couple of not so suitable for family viewing scenes, the film is well written and Dennehy is at the top of his game here.

An enjoyable comedy that has its flaws

[abbazabakyleman-98834 · 7/10 · 8 September 2018]

This film hasn't aged well for a variety of reasons. The movie was completed in 1984, but didn't get a release date until 1986. The script wasn't too bad as it was written by the always reliable Robert Kaufman, who gave us Freebie and the Bean and Love at First Bite. Brian Dennehy and Anne Archer are, however, horribly miscast in the roles as the couple who decide to live off the grid, turn their backyard into a farm, shut off all the electricity and eventually losing everything in the process.

What hurts the film greatly is how the movie had to be later re-shot by adding Dick Shawn and Nita Talbot as the wacky next-door neighbors, which is more forced than funny. The original cut itself actually flows a lot better without these added bits, which are totally unnecessary and ruin the unique tone of this movie.