Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
    • Television
      • TV by Decade
        • TV – 1950s
        • TV – 1960s
        • TV – 1970s
        • TV – 1980s
        • TV – 1990s
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Kids TV
      • Variety
      • News & Sport
      • Advertisements
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • Music – 1950s
        • Music – 1960s
        • Music – 1970s
        • Music – 1980s
        • Music – 1990s
      • Artists – A to K
        • Artists – A
        • Artists – B
        • Artists – C
        • Artists – D
        • Artists – E
        • Artists – F
        • Artists – G
        • Artists – H
        • Artists – I
        • Artists – J
        • Artists – K
      • Artists – L to Z
        • Artists – L
        • Artists – M
        • Artists – N
        • Artists – O
        • Artists – P
        • Artists – Q
        • Artists – R
        • Artists – S
        • Artists – T
        • Artists – U
        • Artists – V
        • Artists – W
        • Artists – X
        • Artists – Y
        • Artists – Z
      • Artists – 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Playlists
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • Movies – 1950s
        • Movies – 1960s
        • Movies – 1970s
        • Movies – 1980s
        • Movies – 1990s
      • Movies – 0 to 9
      • Movies – A to K
        • Movies – A
        • Movies – B
        • Movies – C
        • Movies – D
        • Movies – E
        • Movies – F
        • Movies – G
        • Movies – H
        • Movies – I
        • Movies – J
        • Movies – K
      • Movies – L to Z
        • Movies – L
        • Movies – M
        • Movies – N
        • Movies – O
        • Movies – P
        • Movies – Q
        • Movies – R
        • Movies – S
        • Movies – T
        • Movies – U
        • Movies – V
        • Movies – W
        • Movies – X
        • Movies – Y
        • Movies – Z
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Movies»Movies by Decade»Movies - 1980s
    Movies - 1980s Movies - L 3 Mins Read

    Lost in America (1985)

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    If you ever feel the desire to quit the rat race, liquidate your assets and hit the open road in search of freedom and adventure, you’d better wait until you’ve seen Lost In America – Albert Brooks’ often hilarious cautionary fable about a pair of yuppies in revolt.

    David Howard (Albert Brooks) is an up-and-coming young Los Angeles executive who is all set for a promotion to Senior Vice President of his advertising firm. He’s buying a $450,000 house, choosing the most tasteful colour combination for a new Mercedes and, according to his wife, Linda (Julie Hagerty), becoming unbearably “reasonable”.

    David is so certain he’ll get his VP stripes that when his boss (Michael Greene) announces someone else for the job, he chortles, “OK, now let’s bring in Allen Funt and get this thing over with!”.

    But it’s no prank. An infuriated David resigns after making a few unprintable suggestions to his boss.

    He persuades Linda to quit her job too, and they sell their house and cars, cash in their stocks, and hit the highway in a Winnebago.

    They still have a nest egg – until they hit Vegas and Linda’s weakness for gambling leads to the loss of their fortune.

    David and Linda are reduced to living in a trailer park in Arizona and working at menial jobs.

    The hapless couple faces as many impossible problems as the Griswolds in National Lampoon’s Vacation but the laughs – which are frequent – have more resonance because they’re grounded in reality.

    Supporting players include TV producer Garry Marshall as a casino manager; Herb Nanas (the film’s executive producer) as a rich man adrift in Arizona; Ernie Brown as a phlegmatic pharmacist; Art Frankel as an employment counsellor; Donald Gibb as an amorous ex-convict; Joey Coleman as the honcho of a hot dog stand and Charles Boswell as a highway patrolman whose overpowering affection for Easy Rider provides the Howards with one of their few lucky breaks.

    David Howard
    Albert Brooks
    Linda Howard
    Julie Hagerty
    Receptionist
    Sylvia Farrel
    Model
    Tina Kincaid
    David’s Secretary
    Candy Ann Brown
    Patty
    Maggie Roswell
    Hans (voice)
    Hans Wagner
    Paul Dunn
    Michael Greene
    Paul Dunn’s Secretary
    Brandy Rubin
    Brad Tooley
    Tom Tarpey
    Security Guard
    Robert Hughes
    Ray
    Raynold Gideon
    Motorcyclist
    John Di Fusco
    Front Desk Clerk
    Michael Cornelison
    Bellman
    Radu Gavor
    Casino Manager
    Garry Marshall
    Mercedes Driver
    Herb Nanas
    Pharmacist
    Ernie Brown
    Skippy
    Joey Coleman
    Highway Patrolman
    Charles Boswell

    Director
    Albert Brooks

    Video

    Related Posts

    • Married To The Mob (1988)
      Married To The Mob (1988)
      In this comedy thriller from director Jonathan Demme, Michelle Pfeiffer donned a curly brunette wig and proved that she was…
    • Airplane! (Flying High) (1980)
      Airplane! (Flying High) (1980)
      The tail of a plane slices through dark clouds like a shark fin breaking through the moonlit surf in Jaws . .…
    • Insignificance (1985)
      Insignificance (1985)
      Four unnamed people who look and sound a lot like Albert Einstein, Marilyn Monroe, Joe DiMaggio and Joseph McCarthy converge in…
    • Broadcast News (1987)
      Broadcast News (1987)
      The setting is the Washington news bureau of a major TV network; the focus is on three aspiring journalists climbing…
    • S.O.B. (1981)
      S.O.B. (1981)
      You don't expect this sort of ill-conceived vitriol from Blake Edwards, creator of the amiable, if idiotic, Inspector Clouseau, especially…
    • They Live (1988)
      They Live (1988)
      John Nada (wrestler-turned-actor Roddy Piper) is an unemployed drifter who finds construction work in Los Angeles and befriends Frank Armitage…
    • Teen Wolf Too (1987)
      Teen Wolf Too (1987)
      The original Teen Wolf (1985) was a big hit, although that was probably more to do with the fact that star…
    • Long Goodbye, The (1973)
      Long Goodbye, The (1973)
      Unshaven, unheroic Los Angeles detective Philip Marlowe (Elliott Gould) smells a rat when his friend Terry Lennox (former pro baseball…

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleDevil’s Rain, The (1975)
    Next Article Legend of Billie Jean, The (1985)

    Comments are closed.

    Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    You May Also Like
    • Dragstrip Girl (1957)
      Louise Blake (Fay Spain) loves hot cars but her parents […]
    • Kokomo
      Like every other self-respecting musical movement in the early […]
    • Beat The Clock
      1 9 5 0 – 1 9 6 1 (USA) The very active game show Beat The […]
    • Distant Thunder (1988)
      A troubled Vietnam veteran (John Lithgow) deserts his wife and […]
    • Jimmy Clitheroe
      James Robinson ‘Jimmy’ Clitheroe died on 6 June 1973 […]
    • Spliffs, The
      Australian power pop band The Spliffs formed in the North […]
    Twitter Feed
    Please note


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Popular Tags
    1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1975 1976 Action Figures Amicus Arcade games Australia Beach movies Beatles Blaxploitation Board games Britpop Canada Crime Disco Disney Doo-Wop Elvis Presley Girl groups Glam Goth Hammer Heavy Metal Irwin Allen Labels Merseybeat Mod revival Motown New Romantic New Wave NWOBHM Oi! One-hit wonders Power Pop Pub rock Punk Radio Scotland Ska Soul music Surf music
    Search Nostalgia Central
    Copyright © 1998, 2022 Nostalgia Central
    • About
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.