Taglines: From Fortune 500… to fortune’s fool.
Life Stinks movie storyline. Goddard Bolt (Mel Brooks) is the callous CEO of Bolt Enterprises. Bolt shows little regard for other people’s needs or for the environment, and has his eye on the slum of Los Angeles so he can tear it down. Bolt makes a bet with his biggest rival, Vance Crasswell (Jeffrey Tambor), who also has an interest in the property, that he can survive on those streets for 30 days. Should Bolt lose, Crasswell owns the property, but should Bolt win, Crasswell will sell it for practically nothing.
There are three conditions: #1) Bolt will be completely penniless; #2) He must wear an electronic anklet that will activate if he leaves the boundaries, forfeiting the bet if he exceeds 30 seconds out of bounds; #3) At no time can he reveal to any of the slum area residents that he is Goddard Bolt. To add to the look, Bolt has his mustache shaved off, then Crasswell confiscates his toupee and rips the top pocket of his jacket.
Unbeknown to Bolt, Crasswell schemes to make Goddard’s stay on the streets as bad as possible. Bolt, homeless, hungry and filthy, is befriended by skid-row inhabitants like Sailor (Howard Morris) and Fumes (Theodore Wilson) and given the nickname “Pepto” after falling asleep in a crate with a Pepto-Bismol logo on its side. In the process, he meets and eventually becomes attracted to Molly (Lesley Ann Warren), a homeless woman who used to be a dancer on Broadway. During a scuffle with two muggers, Bolt is pushed out of bounds, which activates his anklet. To prevent the “30-second forfeiture”, Bolt rushes back in, which impresses Molly with his supposed bravery as it looks like he is tackling the muggers.
Life Stinks is a 1991 comedy-drama directed by and starring Mel Brooks. It is one of the few Mel Brooks comedies that is not a parody, nor at any time does the film break the fourth wall. It co-stars Lesley Ann Warren, Howard Morris and Jeffrey Tambor. The original music score was composed by John Morris. The film was both a critical and box office flop.
Life Stinks (1991)
Directed by: Mel Brooks
Starring: Mel Brooks, Lesley Ann Warren, Jeffrey Tambor, Stuart Pankin, Howard Morris, Rudy De Luca, Michael Ensign, Matthew Faison, Carmine Caridi
Screenplay by: Mel Brooks, Ron Clark, Rudy De Luca, Steve Haberman
Production Design by: Peter S. Larkin
Cinematography by: Steven Poster
Film Editing by: Michael Mulconery, David Rawlins, Anthony Redman
Costume Design by: Mary Malin
Set Decoration by: Marvin March
Art Direction by: Josan F. Russo
Music by: John Morris
Distributed by: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release Date: July 26, 1991
Hits: 83
