Rating: R
Genre:
Comedy
Theatrical Release: 01/15/1988(USA)
Release Date: 04/01/2003
SubTitles: English/French/Espanol
Dubbed: English
Sound: DD1
Run Time: 96 Minutes
Flags: Adult Situations, Not For Children, Adult Language, Profanity
Distributor/Studio: MGM
Michael Ritchie's
The Couch Trip follows a long line of Hollywood films (
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,
The Disorderly Orderly) in which the psychos are seen as saner than the psychiatrists.
Charles Grodin plays
Dr. George Maitlin, a pompous radio self-help guru, who is having his own personal mental breakdown.
Maitlin's lawyer puts in a call to a Cicero, IL, mental facility and the telephone is answered by schizophrenic mental patient
John Burns (
Dan Aykroyd). Thinking
Burns is a crony of
Maitlin,
Burns is offered the job of replacing
Maitlin during his recovery. Of course,
Burns accepts the job. Immediately jetted to Los Angeles,
Burns meets panhandler
Donald Becker (
Walter Matthau) at the airport. While wearing the garb of a priest,
Becker sounds off against the madness of societal conventions;
Burns takes to him immediately and they become fast friends. When
Burns assumes command of the airwaves in
Maitlin's place, his words of wisdom are so obvious and commonsensical that he is an overnight sensation. Meanwhile, in London, where
Maitlin is convalescing, he gets wind of
Burns' success. With renewed vigor and outrage,
Maitlin leaves his recovery room and hops on a plane back to Los Angeles in an effort to recover his radio show.
~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
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