Lost in America (1985)

Albert Brooks' and Julie Hagerty's portrayals of the definitive yuppie couple are hilarious. They're so typical, especially with their attitude at the beginning about what is important in life, (a house with a tennis court and a Mercedes). Everything Mr. and Ms. Blue Collar America hates about the Reagan-era generation is portrayed here. They have everything, just to have it all blow up in their faces. The success of this film comes from the sum of its small parts. Brooks' phone conversation with Hans, the Mercedes salesman (voiced by Brooks himself), the firing scene with "Brad" and his ad jingle for Ford, the check-in at the Las Vegas hotel, and, of course, Brooks' sales pitch to the casino manager (Gary Marshall), are just a few of the gems, which, when added up result in one of the funniest films ever made.

Fmovies: A typical Albert Brooks film where the characters and the situation create the punchline. Most Albert Brooks fans will enjoy this movie for the simple reason that it stars Albert Brooks. Considered to many as the younger / less Jewish version of Woody Allen, Brooks is almost as funny whether or not his movie deals with relationships. In Lost in America, Broosk tackles not only the relationship between husband and wife but the relationship between America and the American dream. Julie Hagerty co-stars as the off beat yet hilarious wife that loses all their money in Las Vegas. The dream turns into a nightmare their dreams are suddenly gambled away. The story takes a giant turn for the funnier as Brooks and Hagerty enjoy a 80's version of Easy Rider as they discover themselves on the open road of their lives. All in all, it all ends in New York.

David (Albert Brooks) is an ad exec expecting a big promotion. He and Linda Howard (Julie Hagerty) have sold their house for a bigger house. Instead of being the new senior VP, he's being shipped to NY for their new Ford account. He goes ballistic and gets fired. David convinces Linda to quit her job and abandon their successful yuppie lives to find themselves like 'Easy Rider'. They sell everything and buy a Winnebago. They go to Vegas to get remarried but things go terribly wrong when Linda loses all of their money gambling.

The movie starts a little slow. I rather they get to the Winnebago faster. Albert Brooks is wildly talkative. Julie Hagerty is adorably hilarious. She is just insanely funny when she loses her money. The little hearts bridal suit is really the start of the laughs. There are some great laughs although Albert Brooks could sharpening his directing skills. He tends to run on and on.

Lost in America fmovies. After reading the reviews I couldn't believe that there are people that found this movie boring. To me it has some of the best dialog in any movie.

Favorite scene? hard to pick, but probably when Albert Brooks comes down to the casino in his bathrobe looking for Julie Haggerty and finds her chanting..."22,22,22,22." When asked how down she is she says "Down." When asking the casino operator how down she is he says "Down."

Another player says "She really likes 22"

I have seen this movie over and over again and it just keeps getting funnier each time I see it. I am a big Albert Brooks fan, Defending your life is very good and Real Life is also a favorite.

If you like dry humor and great dialog see this one for sure!

A Yuppie couple leaves its jobs, liquidates its assets, and buys an RV, intent on living on the road like their idols in "Easy Rider." Things don't go as planned because of a single event. That single event is so contrived and unbelievably stupid that one doesn't feel any sympathy for the couple. However, one can laugh at them. Brooks could be Woody Allen's irritable cousin in terms of his neurotic behavior and impatience. Like Allen's films prior to "Annie Hall," this one is episodic, and some of the episodes are quite funny. It doesn't quite come together as a satisfying whole, but the journey is worth taking, and Brooks knows not to overstay his welcome.

Albert Brooks is a wonderful talent, somewhat of a Woody Allen offshoot, and his script writing is witty and has just the right amount of offbeat humour to it.

The film has a great premise, and the characters are realistic and sympathetic enough to retain attention, but it moves too fast and feels underdeveloped. It starts out with Howard (Brooks) established as a moderately successful advertising executive, who with his managerial wife, plan to put a down payment on a 400k house. But the corporate lifestyle has sapped some of the excitement out of both their lives, and before divorce proceedings set in, they hilariously quit their jobs and set out on the open road to find themselves. And along the way they bring the 'nest egg'.

Unfortunately, things don't go as planned, and the soul searching quickly becomes a trip through hell. With each quagmire the couple finds themselves in, Brooks' character hilariously pleads with the people he sees as obstacles to their luck. The film is built around 3 or 4 of these lengthy, seemingly improvised sketch scenes, and is what provides most of the entertainment apart from the scenario. But after the main twist and conflict happens, the film loses steam and the hijinx quickly dissipitate until the film deflates at the end.

Little soul searching actually occurs, and the film has a realistic, but disappointing ending after much of the build up to their quagmire. The ending just isn't what was promised after the dark hilarity of misfortune that preceded it. The characters feel annoyingly self entitled at first, and start to grate, but the writing and short running times keeps things feeling fresh long enough to want to finish.

Worth watching just for Brooks.