Throw Momma from the Train (1987)

Throw Momma from the Train is the kind of wickedly clever comedy that dares you to laugh at how far a bad idea can roll downhill, and Danny DeVito directs it with the tight pacing of a thriller and the grin of a prankster. Billy Crystal’s frazzled everyman energy plays perfectly against DeVito’s oddball intensity, and their chemistry turns a Hitchcock-inspired setup into a lively, escalating dance of panic, guilt, and absurdity. The vibe is dark but buoyant—more mischievous than mean—packed with sharp dialogue and comic invention that keeps topping itself without tipping into cruelty. It’s not for everyone if you’re allergic to black humor or uncomfortable with violence played for laughs, but if you like your comedy with a criminal twinkle and real momentum, this one still lands.

Throw Momma from the Train wants to be a darkly comic riff on Strangers on a Train, using a murder-swap premise to mash up crime-thriller tension with screwball misery. The problem is it often plays broader than its nasty setup can support, stretching a thin run of gags across a plot that feels oddly padded and a bit toothless when it should be sharper. If you’re expecting a genuinely edgy black comedy or a tight thriller, you may find it softens its own bite and runs out of steam before the finish. Still, Crystal and DeVito have an enjoyably mismatched energy, and when the movie leans into awkward character comedy and escalating incompetence, it can be pretty funny—just don’t go in expecting consistent momentum or real darkness.