This movie was very much a roller coaster in that it had peaks and valleys; there were points I liked and points I didn't like.
Uncle Joe (Kirk Douglas) is a rich scrap metal mogul with no kids of his own, but a gaggle of nieces and nephews who all want his money. Their shameless and transparent attempts to ingratiate themselves to him go nowhere and they all see their satin sheet dreams slipping away when a young hot "nurse" named Molly (Olivia D'Abo, most known as the princess in Conan the Destroyer) enters Uncle Joe's life. They have to do something to wrestle him and his money away from her. To do that, they call in Daniel (Michael J. Fox), Uncle Joe's favorite nephew.
Daniel is not as despicable as his cousins, but that sort of changes when his Uncle mentions that he may leave all of his wealth to Daniel. It's funny how money changes people. And that's what this movie was about.
Daniel didn't notice the changes within himself and he was able to convince himself that whatever unscrupulous thing he was doing he was doing for a greater good: you know, the ends justify the means. With that he sank further and further into a hole of selling out as his self-respect, integrity, and girlfriend vanished.
It actually sucked to see Daniel essentially become one of the people he hated. And it was particularly hypocritical of him to be angry at his Uncle for pretending to have money when he was broke just to see what he could get out of people (even though he was really rich and pretending to be broke). Daniel got on his soapbox and gave this moralistic speech about "how dare ye and shame on ye," when he himself was playing a game as well. The fact is that they were both playing a game and his Uncle was just better at it.
I suppose it was a happy ending because Uncle Joe found out that Daniel did love him and as a result he shared with Daniel that he wasn't destitute and that he and his girlfriend Robin (Nancy Travis) could come live with him in his mansion. That wasn't a happy ending for me... or at least the ending I'd prefer. I actually preferred that Uncle Joe be broke and live with Daniel because it just makes for a more genuine and less fairytale ending.
Uncle Joe (Kirk Douglas) is a rich scrap metal mogul with no kids of his own, but a gaggle of nieces and nephews who all want his money. Their shameless and transparent attempts to ingratiate themselves to him go nowhere and they all see their satin sheet dreams slipping away when a young hot "nurse" named Molly (Olivia D'Abo, most known as the princess in Conan the Destroyer) enters Uncle Joe's life. They have to do something to wrestle him and his money away from her. To do that, they call in Daniel (Michael J. Fox), Uncle Joe's favorite nephew.
Daniel is not as despicable as his cousins, but that sort of changes when his Uncle mentions that he may leave all of his wealth to Daniel. It's funny how money changes people. And that's what this movie was about.
Daniel didn't notice the changes within himself and he was able to convince himself that whatever unscrupulous thing he was doing he was doing for a greater good: you know, the ends justify the means. With that he sank further and further into a hole of selling out as his self-respect, integrity, and girlfriend vanished.
It actually sucked to see Daniel essentially become one of the people he hated. And it was particularly hypocritical of him to be angry at his Uncle for pretending to have money when he was broke just to see what he could get out of people (even though he was really rich and pretending to be broke). Daniel got on his soapbox and gave this moralistic speech about "how dare ye and shame on ye," when he himself was playing a game as well. The fact is that they were both playing a game and his Uncle was just better at it.
I suppose it was a happy ending because Uncle Joe found out that Daniel did love him and as a result he shared with Daniel that he wasn't destitute and that he and his girlfriend Robin (Nancy Travis) could come live with him in his mansion. That wasn't a happy ending for me... or at least the ending I'd prefer. I actually preferred that Uncle Joe be broke and live with Daniel because it just makes for a more genuine and less fairytale ending.