Ruthless People (1986)

The shrewish wife (Bette Midler) of a wealthy clothing manufacturer (Danny DeVito) is kidnapped by a young married couple (Judge Reinhold, Helen Slater) who want revenge on the manufacturer for stealing the wife's fashion designs and making millions off them. Their intention is to ransom the kidnapped wife for $500,000 or they'll kill her. Imagine their shock when the husband doesn't want the wife back and wants them to bump her off! Bette Midler had a hot streak in the late 1980s with a series of comedies that were big box office hits like DOWN AND OUT IN BEVERLY HILLS, BIG BUSINESS, OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE and this one. While often crude and obvious, the crack timing of Midler and DeVito is a marvel to watch and it's amazing the laughs Midler can get from a double take or a sly smirk. Two supporting characters threaten to steal the movie at any moment, Anita Morris as DeVito's sexy duplicitous mistress and Bill Pullman (in his film debut) as Morris's dumb as they come boy toy. Like their AIRPLANE, the trio of directors (Jim Abrahams, David and Jerry Zucker) move at lightning speed, throwing so many gags at you that if you don't laugh at one, you're bound to laugh at the next one. Funny enough that you don't mind that the ending is soft. With William G. Schilling as a police captain whose sexual peccadilloes provide some of the biggest laughs in the film.