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Splitting Heirs (1993)
Director: Robert Young
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Eric Idle's script may pack in any amount of would-be comedic standbys - big bosoms, naked men hiding in wardrobes, national and ethnic stereotypes, bungled murder attempts, more big bosoms - but its cynical contrivance and lumbering execution fail to raise a laugh from beginning to end. The basic plot is Kind Hearts and Coronets rewritten for the mall-rat generation. Tommy Patel (Idle), a humble city broker, discovers that he's the lost Duke of Bournemouth, heir to a fortune currently hogged by American imposter Henry Maitland (Moranis). With the sinister complicity of legal vulture Shadgrind (Cleese, self-parodic), our aspirant aristo decides to bump off the Yank pretender; but before he can claim the title, there's a near-incestuous entanglement with the man-hungry widowed Duchess (Hershey) to be negotiated. Hershey's embarrassed presence, and the flailing efforts of the former Pythons, make this tedious cavalcade of thumping obviousness even more cringe-worthy than it already is.Author: TJ
Cast & crew
Director: Robert Young
Producer: Simon Bosanquet, Redmond Morris
Cast: Eric Idle, Rick Moranis, Barbara Hershey, Catherine Zeta Jones, John Cleese, Sadie Frost, Stratford Johns, Brenda Bruce, Eric Sykes full cast
Genre(s): Comedy
Duration: 87 mins
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