My Review of "Opportunity Knocks"

Opportunity Knocks is a comedy that came out back in 1990. In some ways I don't know why they don't make movies like this anymore. There used to be a whole genre of street hustling movies back in the 90s but it seems to have disappeared. This is one of those movies.

It all starts out innocently enough. We have a guy going to work, minding his own business. Everyone's at a crosswalk and while the cars are passing by one individual walks in front of a car and gets hit.

Here we get introduced to our main character Eddie. He's plays an innocent bystander that witnessed the accident. His friend Lou is the guy that stepped in front of the car. The two scare the driver into giving the money for fear Lou would sue him for millions of dollars. What looked like an accident turned out to be a con job.

The two are always trying to find their next victim but the problem is Lou is always in trouble. This time Lou owes a great deal of money to some guy named Pinky. They miraculously get the money to Pinky on time but because Pinky gives them attitude all the time they decide to prank him.

This prank goes awry and results in Pinky's boss chasing after them. Fortunately for Eddie he remembers a place they hit a while ago. The wealthy owner seems to be on vacation so he can lay low there for a while.

It's not as simple as he thinks because the owners parents soon find him there. Eddie then has to use all of his conman charms to convince these folks that he's the owner's housesitting friend. What ensues is some funny antics where Eddie will con himself into the world of aristocracy.

Of course the movie is quite formulaic but that's all right. All of the fun comes from the antics they get into. Admittedly, some of the things Eddie does to get out of things are quite clever. These scenarios are so fun that I wanted a little bit more. That's a good testimony of how fun they are. I thought this was pretty cleverly written covering some holes that I thought would be glaring later on.

Part of the charm in this movie comes from the cast. Each one of them does a great job. This movie was obviously made specifically for Dana Carvey who was a rising young star at Saturday Night Live at the time. He's known for doing impressions and he does a lot of them in this movie. Some will not appreciate some of his ethnic imitations but they're done with good intentions. You have to see the context of why he's doing what he's doing. There is no malice in what he's doing.

This is not a movie meant to win any awards. It is dumb fun that everyone can enjoy. There is no violence and no special effects. All of the entertainment comes from the writing and the charm of the actors. I often miss this style of movie making and that's why I go back to watch these every so often.

Overall, I enjoyed this as a fun diversion away from the real world. It's fun for the whole family as there isn't any violence, swearing or any nudity. Even the jokes are quite clean and family friendly. The wholesome fun was a nice diversion of all the craziness we see all the time. I had a good time from start to finish. I wouldn't say that this is something that I would go out of my way to watch but if it's available I might. That's why I'll give this movie a 6.5 out of 10.