Definitely one of Altman's worst, though perhaps not quite as bad as some may lead you to believe. The producer wanted Altman to make a teen comedy in the vein of Porky's or something. Altman hated those kinds of movies, and decided to make a parody of one instead. Unfortunately, you just can't make a parody of a comedic genre. It never works. O.C. and Stiggs comes off as just a wacky teen comedy as directed by Altman; the only difference is that the characters are slightly more obnoxious and, instead of being fun anti-heroes, they're detestable. Which makes for a rather unpleasant movie. The script (or Altman's alterations he apparently hated the script as written, so who knows how much he changed it) is extremely sloppy as well, especially as it nears the end. There are some amusing moments along the way, so it's not a total bust. It does contain one of the funniest dialogue exchanges I've ever heard: "How would you like to have more fun than you've ever had in your life?" "I don't know. I've had a lot of fun. I have Legos, you know."
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zetes11 December 2006
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Quinoa198410 February 2013No, it's not a failure. It's not good either. It's simply one of the oddest ducks of 80's comedies - trying to be both an actual National Lampoon movie (it's based on one of the stories from the magazine, which I'm not sure), and a satire of them and teen comedies. Trouble is, I couldn't really tell. It felt more like Altman reaching further than he did with MASH to make a completely anarchic, tasteless comedy about a couple of guys (in this case Daniel Jenkins and Neill Barry are FAR from the talents of Eliot Gould and Donald Sutherland) who just want to stir up the sh*t in middle-upper class Arizona and have some fun. Only this time there's no war going on or people to fix up in a hospital. What is there to do? Uh...
I was glad it wasn't just some assembly-line thing. It is an Altman movie, to the bone, so loose and free that you have to watch moment to moment because there isn't anything CLOSE to a plot here. It's just a semblance of vignettes around what OC and Stiggs did on their summer break (not their real names, and as OC says, one of my big laughs, is that "Call me OC, it sounds more ridiculous"). Make a wild car that is $100 off the lot and can be decked out to look like a monster-truck- Studebaker? Check. Bring a machine gun as a wedding present for a very unsatisfactory wedding? Check. Make friends and give out t-shirts from the Schwab insurance company to Melvin Van Peebles? Oh hell yeah a check. How about a trip to Mexico to snag an African band to later crash a theater production on its opening night? Uh... hey, it IS a National Lampoon movie.... sorta, not really, whatever.
I was fascinated by OC and Stiggs, no question there. Sometimes I was laughing, more for the little beats of oddball behavior that Altman was always known for sprinkling in. Ray Walston as the grandfather, while no more or less one note than any of the other supporting (or lead?) characters, is maybe the funniest most consistently, rambling about extreme acts of violence in stories and making outrageous omelette's and drink concoctions that he correctly predicts make one more prone to sex. And while he's not as funny as I'd hoped, Dennis Hopper also has a fun appearance playing his Photo-Journalist from Apocalypse Now - that is, if the Photo-Journalist ended up having lots of guns, ammo, and marijuana to grow out in the fields, uh, somewhere.
The whole project, from some of the casting (hey, Jane Curtain and, uh, future stars Cynthia Nixon and Jon Cryer) to how bizarre some of the set pieces get (skinny dipping again in the Schwab's pool? Hey, there's a tiki backyard next door!), is like a big stunt on Altman's part. And why not? His career was full of them, from doing a shaggy-dog take on the Long Goodbye to his madcap take on Popeye. But the main characters are so obnoxious that the power of the satire just became lost, and I wasn't sure if the line not simply got blurred between doing an actual teen comedy and a satire of it but that the line was screwed altogether. Over time the film seems to have gotten a small cult - maybe apologists, maybe people who genuinely like it after it unfortunately (or maybe rightfully) bombed after being shelved for two years - but it still doesn't make it top shelf work from this director. The style is just so all over the place that maybe, at best, it could work as a wild-card party movie, like throw it on, dip in and out, get laughs where they suddenly, outrageously, pop up, and skip over some of the lesser points. C+ -
gavin694210 July 2014O.C. and Stiggs are not your average unhappy teenagers. They not only despise their suburban surroundings, they plot against it. They seek revenge against the middle class Schwab family, who embody all they detest: middle class.
This film was a critical and commercial flop in its day, and has gone on to be considered one of the worst films in Robert Altman's long career. No film is singled out more than this as being the low end of his talents. (If his lowest film is still above a 5 on IMDb, though, he is doing better than many.)
Perhaps a revisit is in order. Not that the film is a lost classic, but in some ways it might be ahead of its time. While it failed as a 1980s teen comedy, it has some aspects of 1990s teen comedy in it. Particularly such "subversive" films as "Suburbia" or "SLC Punk". Stiggs might have blended in well with those groups... -
Beren15 January 1999Like many of Robert Altman's smaller movies, O.C. and Stiggs is under-appreciated. Most of the teenage movies that clogged up the mid-80's consisted of nothing more than stupid sex jokes and gross-out shots designed to humiliate straw men villains. O.C. and Stiggs is a movie where you feel that all sorts of things are possible. It's humorous in the best sense.
It remains a mystery why some of Altman's films are overrated (e.g. The Player and Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean), while others are immediately forgotten. -
J. Canker Huxley10 November 2004What does O.C. stand for? In the vastly superior National Lampoon articles that ran from 1980 to 1984, it stood for "Out of Control" the nickname of the character William "O.C." Ogilvy. In the lame Altman film it stood for "Oliver Cromwell" Ogilvie.
That is the whole problem with this movie. It should have been out of control fun, but it ends up as a lame reference to social significance. Altman tries to take a tried and true formula of a wacky teen sex comedy (a valid, wonderful and meaningful genre of American Cinema, just like film noir) and violates it by bringing in bad actors, crappy cinematography, and, worst of all, some sort of message of what this aged and senile director thinks is the problems of youth in Reagan era America.
At least the previous NL effort, "Vacation" they had a good director (NL alumni Harold Ramis) satisfactory actors, and the story was fairly close to the original John Hughes piece. None of the actors here, (save Jon Cryer) are interesting, funny or even remotely close to the few characters brought over from the NL articles (they added other lame characters for no reason, such as OC's grandfather, wasting the talents of Ray Walston). Not even the amazing sounds of King Sunny Ade can save this film (they are only in this film for a five minute cameo). What I cannot understand is that by 1984 when this film was made (it was so bad it was quietly released three years later), why did NL not give this film to a reliable director such as Harold Ramis, John Landis, Amy Heckerling, or John Hughes?
All I can say is to look over the thirty some reviews of this movie and see how the lines are drawn. Those who loved this movie have never read (or had it read to them) the articles of OC & Stiggs that graced the pages of National Lampoon. Those who abhor this movie are those who can read and have enjoyed and lived their lives according to the gospel of OC & Stiggs as written in the brilliant National Lampoon articles.
If you want the story of OC & Stiggs, read the original articles, they're on the net and should be required reading in all schools, churches and drinking establishments. If you want to see a funny teen sex comedy, rent classics "American Pie," "Porky's" or "Private Resort." If you want to see and here King Sunny Ade and his infectious ju-ju sound, rent "Konkombe" or buy "Roots of Rhythm," you will not be sorry. However, stay away from O.C. & Stiggs, at all costs. -
turbo44528 January 2004I am a huge fan of the original National Lampoon articles about O.C and Stiggs, and sadly, this movie captures little of the glory of those stories. Still, there are a few good moments, such as when King Sunny Ade and his African Beats are playing, and also when they show any exterior shot (the movie was filmed around Mesa and Phoenix, AZ). Also, I still remember the primal screams of "SCHWAAAAAAAAAB!!" when I think of this movie. The torture the Schwab family endures will most always bring a smile to my face. I think the biggest problems with this movie lie in the fact that the original O.C. and Stiggs articles were very 'out-there', some of the concepts were not P.C. for even then in the late 80s. One article related how they put a hayride together and made all the mentally challenged kids at one school ride in it, and how OC & S each got oral sex from one of the kids. This kinda storyline does not make a movie producer automatically start scrambling for the checkbook. So these non-PC (frankly, audience-scaring) ideas had to be 'toned down', to the point where the producers lost the core audience they were shooting for in the first place. Another area that needed work was the plot. It's pretty thin, even for this type of movie. The boys want King Sunny Ade to play a concert in town, so they do what they can to make it happen (Let's put on a bake sale!). That's it. As blah as this movie was, I still recommend it if only for the music. I can't wait until it finally comes out on DVD.
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astorian1 August 2000ANyone who thinks RObert ALtman is a brilliant director should be tied down and forced to watch this piece of garbage! The original story of "O.C. and Stiggs" appeared in National Lampoon, and it was both uproariously funny AND outrageously offensive to both genders, ALL races, and ALL sexual preferences. Robert Altman turned a hilarious story into a tame, lame, wimpy, boring movie with no laughs and NO guts.
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vinceb659 June 2005O.C. & Stiggs is one of my favorite 80's movies. I truly wish it would get issued on DVD but I realize the chances of this are remote. The movie did not have too much of a plot. And, while I loved the liberal trashing of the extreme right-wing conservative neighbor, the movie was quite mean-spirited at times. It is tough to classify this film, but I believe it struck a chord with me due to the anti-establishment mentality of the two lead characters.
The story centers around the two lead characters, high school guys with way too much time on their hands with an affinity for the African music stylings of King Sunny Ade and an extreme antipathy towards the ultra-right-wing insurance agency owner who lives in their neighborhood. The movie follows the two leads as they prank the family (the Schwabs) and otherwise try to survive a record Arizona heat wave by bothering as many people as they can. For instance, their joint purchase of the "Gila Monster". A giant monster-truck-tired old-school convertible which made more noise and belched out more smoke and fumes than any self-respecting oil refinery. Perhaps it was my being 16 when I first saw the movie and latching onto ti for being different (and funny), but hey, if it ever gets re-released, I will re-buy it.
The movie isn't for everyone, but I enjoyed it immensely. One quote in particular was worth the price of the rental back in 1988: "That's the problem with insurance. Destruction just isn't permanent anymore". And, if I can ever find my old VHS copy (many, many friends have borrowed this tape), I need to find out the title of the King Sunny Ade song he plays in the impromptu concert scene. -
BandSAboutMovies11 June 2021The actual date for the release of this movie is under some debate, as director Robert Altman - yes, the same one who did Nashville - shot the film in 1983, it was copyrighted in 1985, then shelved until it got a small theatrical release in 1987 and 1988.
Now, we could debate whether Altman is the right person to shoot a National Lampoon magazine, but then again, I kind of like this movie, which has a ramshackle all over the place feel to it.
Loosely based on stories written by Ted Mann and Tod Carroll. O. C. And Stiggs were recurring characters in the magazine, with the entire October 1982 issue being about "The Utterly Monstrous Mind-Roasting Summer of O. C. and Stiggs." One of the big differences is that the print version of the characters are destructive while their film versions are a little more socially redeemable.
O. C., which means Oliver Cromwell Oglivie (Daniel H. Jenkins), and Stiggs (Neill Barry) are two Arizona teens whose idea of a great night is driving their car, the Gila Monster, to pick up girls, get booze from Wino Bob (Melvin van Peebles) and pick up some ladies. And oh yeah, drive the Schwab family - Randall (Paul Dooley), Elinore (Jane Curtin), Randall Jr. (Jon Cryer) and Lenore (Laura Urstein) - nuts.
Altman's argument is that while audiences to see his take on Porky's, he saw through the fake outrage in those movies and was delivering a satire. But yeah. No one else wanted that. As the director himself said, "It was a satire of teen sex comedies, gosh darn it, not an example of that dubious breed!"
But hey! Ray Walston is great as always as Gramps and it's kinda inspired to get Dennis Hopper to be in one of these movies. He even flies his helicopter so Mark can woo Cynthia Nixon.
It's kind of fascinating to me that this movie was even made and that's pretty much the charm of it. -
evanston_dad25 March 2008Perhaps it's because I came in with bottom-of-the-barrel expectations for a movie I've heard absolutely nothing good about, but I found myself enjoying "O.C. and Stiggs" quite a lot. I know from experience how bad bad Altman can be, so I expected the worst. But if you share Altman's smart-ass sense of humor, as I do, I can't help but think that you'll find this movie pretty funny.
The very nominal plot has something to do with two adolescents (the O.C. and Stiggs of the title) spending one summer terrorizing an affluent, middle class family because the patriarch (played with just the right amount of buffoonery by Paul Dooley), head of an insurance company, has denied insurance for O.C.'s grandfather (played uproariously by Ray Walston). But let me stress the word "nominal." This narrative loosely holds together what can otherwise only be described as controlled chaos. In typical Altman fashion, the film is an assemblage of barely choreographed scenes in which actors wander around ad-libbing to their hearts' content. This is not an insult. This style has resulted in some dreadful bombs for Altman, but it's also been responsible for some of his inspired classics. "O.C. and Stiggs" is nowhere near the latter, but it's certainly not the former either.
Altman said in interviews that he intended "O.C. and Stiggs" as a satire of all of those naughty "boys behaving badly" comedies popular in the 1980s. I don't know that it's so much a satire of those films as it is on people in general. It's full of a sneering disdain for a sort of vapid, bourgeois lifestyle that rears its head in much of Altman's work. Scottsdale, Arizona is depicted as a bland land of lawn ornaments, plastic furniture and man-made nature. We don't learn much about O.C. and Stiggs, and they're not even necessarily that likable, but neither are the Schwabbs, the family they torment, and anyway Altman doesn't really ask us to root for anyone but rather just enjoy the silliness. The funniest thing about the film is that the Schwabbs seem to be completely unaware that they're being tormented and instead wander around in a self-absorbed daze.
The rest of the cast includes Jane Curtin, as the boozy matriarch; Martin Mull, as a designer of African fashions; Cynthia Nixon, as a love interest; Jon Cryer, as a dweeb; and best of all, Dennis Hopper, reprising his role from "Apocalypse Now," and who features significantly in the film's climax, a shootout in the Schwabbs' bomb shelter.
It would appear that time has been kind to this utterly dismissed film from the mid-1980s, and you could do much worse from Robert Altman's canon alone, let alone from other films in the same genre.
Grade: B -
Once again, we find a movie where talent has been wasted, and so has our time. There is not a single character who comes off as terribly likable, and so the viewer is left with no one to cheer for. And can someone PLEASE tell me why Dennis Hopper made so many bad movies during this time of his life? B-O-M-B!
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Robert Altman's O.C. and STIGGS is one of his most harshly critiqued movie. This is partly due to the expectations of the fans of the O.C. and STIGGS articles in National Lampoon. From what I can tell, this movie is *not* what fans expected. However, I never read those articles before discovering this film, and so my expectations were quite different. This movie could've been a standard "It's fun to be a teenager in summer" movie, but not with Robert Altman at the helm. There are some excellent performances by Martin Mull, Dennis Hopper, and Jane Curtin. Ray Walston (also known as Mr. Hand in Fast Times at Ridgemont High) gives an incredible performance as the senile "Gramps". I personally thinks he deserves a "Best Supporting Actor" Oscar for this role, but when a movie only makes $30,000 at the box office, I guess the academy doesn't even consider you. Plus Cynthia Nixon, one of the four stars of Sex and The City, plays the love interest. The entire sequence of events is well contrived and although you may not laugh out loud, if you listen closely (which is hard to do given Altman's style of overlapping lines) you will be smiling throughout the film. I've always been surprised how much people disliked this movie, but I suppose the genre and director are a bit like oil and vinegar: They don't mix well, but what a tasty combination.
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buzznzipp199517 March 2007Let's talk about 'Polarization' here a minute! This is one of those you either love it or hate it. I don't believe that there are too many in the middle. It's a tough spot to be in, when you are not a teen, to successfully understand the current teen crazes and fads, let alone the mindset! So it's trouble enough trying to capture this successfully when you are a big Hollywood mucky-muck like Altman . There is nothing wrong with writing a teenage comedy/ drama as an older writer, only thing that you will probably experience is the 'oldisms' in that writer's speech. Old phrases and ideas about life and other stuff. Some will say, 'Yeah, but teens are pretty universal'. But, the generations change due to many things. There was however Cameron Crow that set the high-school genre on it's 'ear' with with the creating of "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" which for me growing up back then was straight between the eyes! He hit it dead on, no doubt. Teenaged angst, the thought-line and logic that they use, etc.
In "O.C. & Stiggs" this carries a cast of great personalities from the past. A few of them, are gone now, but that is one of the reasons that I loved this now but not when I saw it then....how strange, but funny. It just did it's job over time and grew on me. These two are some what organized in their life and pursue ts, but bored with some things and upset at others. The problems and ideas for solutions that they have are fun, and the Arizona scenery to me, is nostalgic to see then all that has changed from what was a simpler time to be alive....the eighties. Enjoy this 1984 made and 1987 released cult classic. (***) -
Hinda26 February 1999The quest for real Juju music is so admirable that I sat through this sad movie thinking repeatedly, "Gosh, this could have been tightened up here, paced up there..." It was frustrating to look at the possibilities.
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RT Firefly22 September 2000I loved the National Lampoon magazine story O.C. & Stiggs was based on but this film is nothing like it's predecessor. It does however back up my long held opinion that the only reason Robert Altman has been allowed to make films after 'Nashville' is because of the prolific amount of drug use amongst movie critics. Altman has an uncanny ability to produce films that, regardless of the budget, look low budget. This one reads like a student film or worse. The two edgy & cool leads are horribly miscast with two very uncool comedic softies that completely undermine the angst and subversion of the original characters. Picture Jim Varney as Hunter S. Thompson or Paulie Shore as Ferris Bueller. Rather than subversive the material comes off looking juvenile and just mean spirited. But for those who insist on pretending they love Altman films, no worry. There is plenty of bad photography, busy cameras, scenes that makes no sense, overlapping dialogue and most of all, a huge cast of name actors that all look like they are practicing their lines.
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Filmnerd198415 September 2010i fail to see the point of this film. it really had nothing going for it. the only things i saw as funny was Dennis Hopper's character(a spoof on his "Apocalypse now" role) and Ray Walston remembering different violent cases as a cop, and telling them as if they were happy memories. Other than that this is a poor film as a comedy or anything else. the main actors who portray O.C and Stiggs where just terribly bad actors and they brought virtually nothing to the characters. Still i cant butcher the film as a whole, but it is still way below average. If they had only made a Comedy with some actual Comedy in it, i may have given it a higher rating.
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BloodyValentine8618 January 2006i was listening to an overachieving radio show called Jake and Jackie one of their blow hards recommend that people go out and see this movie. let me just say it was god awful if anyone likes this film they clearly have the IQ of Paris Hilton on crystal method.
Personally if i were you i would stay away from this movie. Robert Altman a really great director but he really s'd the bed on this one. Instead of seeing this everyone should go out and see broke back mountain gay cowboys are a much better watch. hope this helps and i hope this doesn't turn you off of altman's films. Jake and Jackie i hope you appreciate this -
This film is about two maladjusted teens who were hipsters long before the term was ever coined. The pair are spending their summer before their senior year doing nothing of any great importance...mostly they're just being jerks and hanging out. Much of their energy is spent making the Schwab family miserable...and it's easy to see why.
The main problem with this flick is that there were a lot of similar films which simply worked much better because they had better scripts. BETTER OFF DEAD (1985) and FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH (1982) both immediately come to mind....but if you lived during this era, I am pretty sure you'll be able to think of a few other films with similar attitudes. Because it's not written well, so many of the antics of O.C. and Stiggs simply fall flat that it's hard to stick with this one...and only a few good moments here and there rescue it from being a total disaster. The bottom line is that Robert Altman has a great reputation....even with a stinker here. -
Turtle-2010 February 1999To really understand "OC and Stiggs," you need to have read and absorbed the October, 1982 edition of National Lampoon, on which the film is based. It was a bizarre pseudo-history of OC and Stiggs and they raise chaos in Arizona during their summer vacation. John Waters could have done an astonishing job translating this monster to film, but instead they gave it to Robert Altman, who turned the film into a reference-fest about his own movies (Nashville, et.al) and other films like "Apocalypse Now," to the point of mindlessly casting Dennis Hopper as Sponson, the paranoid VietNam vet. it could have been better, but then again, it could easily have slipped into "Bachelor Party" style shallow stupidity. At least the film is inscrutable. Don't try to find it on video... nobody has it. I have a bootleg from a video rental from 1986.
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gridoon202425 September 2019A strong candidate for Robert Altman's worst film ever; plotless, pointless, and unfunny. Although it does have his anti-authoritarian spirit, the humor is either broad or cryptic (or both); half the time you feel as if you're not in on the joke, the other half you WISH you weren't. Not surprising - or unwarranted - that it took the studio 3 years to release this to theaters. *1/2 out of 4.
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JacquiQ22 March 2002Tho this movie was uneven, the quirky humor was invigorating. I rated it 7, partly because there were some concepts I had not seen in movies previously.
The young leads were personable and presented their characters quite admirably. Their car itself becomes a personality in the show.
You will find several actors you haven't seen in years. (Some shine in the light of this movie; others, well... 'nuff said.)
The Music of "King Sunny Ade & His African Beats" was refreshing. The Juju Music was at the same time full of energy and joy... & was gentle almost like meditation.
If you are looking for a pleasant diversion, strongly unique in places, I highly recommend it. -
vlvetmorning9813 September 2005By far the most wacked-out teen comedy of all time, this bizarre Robert Altman nugget was adapted from a single issue of National Lampoon magazine, the 1982 "Utterly Monstrous, Mind-Roasting Summer of O.C. and Stiggs" special. The plot is simple: O.C. and Stiggs are two bored, horny, Arizona high schoolers who find immense satisfaction in tormenting the Schwab family (the patriarch is fabulously portrayed by Altman regular Paul Dooley). Over summer vacation, they canoe to Mexico, buy a machine gun from Dennis Hopper, organize a King Sunny Ade concert, and try to woo Cynthia Nixon. There's no sentimentality in this film whatsoever. The two leads are unlikable, homophobic morons, but it still adds up into a remarkably funny endeavor. If you're not in the mood for something with a profound statement to make and enjoy laughing at bizarre non-sequiturs, give this film a try.
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dog.fish5 June 2002This movie is not for the masses. In fact, it's probably not even suitable for a major cult following. But if you see it, you'll either like it or hate it. Major plot developments happen off camera, or while multiple people are talking. Very typical Robert Altman style, but definitely more off-beat since it is based on two characters from National Lampoon magazine. If you're the kind of person that needs to identify with and/or like at least one character in the movie, you may find yourself searching throughout the whole film. Don't expect a pause in the action to laugh, which, if this movie agrees with you, you'll be doing often as these two teenagers deal with a bad situation through harassment and booze.
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foxion11 November 2001Like many others who have left comments about this movie, I was first introduced to O.C & Stiggs through the National Lampoon stories. I can't remember ever laughing at anything I read as much as I laughed at the story of O.C. & Stiggs and their summer vacation. Now, I'm not judging the movie O.C. & Stiggs based on my dissapointment on how closely or remotely it followed the print version. I'm basing my comments soley on the movie itself. This is a bad movie. This is an amazingly bad movie. This is such an amazingly bad movie it must be one of the worst movies ever. It is that bad. This movie is bad in every way a movie can be bad: script, acting, directing, cinematography, lighting, sound, and probably gaffing, best boying, and catering. What the hell happened? Having Pauley Shore, Keanu Reeves, or even Kevin Costner standing in front of a video camera for an hour and a half reading the original story from the magazine would have been 10 times funnier than this..movie.
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Cromwell42014 July 2004Need I say more? I think I have watched this movie consecutively more times than any other movie I have ever seen. It is a piece of cheesy 80's art at its finest. The embedded flashbacks make it a bit hard to follow the first 10 times you watch it, but make it pleasantly Warhol-esque especially once you know the majority of the lines. Watch it over and over again, then watch it some more. Make sure you watch it with a drink in your hand, but remember Schwab Insurance doesn't insure drinkers.
"You could have more fun than you've ever had in your entire life"
"Are you sure? I've got legos, you know."
Ogilvie Cromwell
O.C. to my friends