Real Men opens with Agent Pillbox (John Ritter) walking through a forest, when he is shot and killed by an unseen assassin. Pillbox had been engaged on a dry run for a meeting that was to take place with a group of aliens seeking to help humans eliminate a chemical that will end all life on Earth, which scientists accidentally dumped in the ocean.
The fee for this lifesaving miracle? The aliens want a glass of water. However, the Russians, along with a rogue element in the FBI, would like to get to the aliens first because they have also offered something called the “Big Gun” – a gun so big that it could destroy a planet.
Since the aliens have dealt with Pillbox, he is the only one they trust. Tough guy government agent Nick Pirandello (James Belushi) is recruited to escort a meek office worker named Bob Wilson (also played by Ritter) whom FBI computers have found as a lookalike for the deceased Agent Pillbox. However, Wilson is no agent, having been easily pushed around by a group of bullies who lived down the street, and by a milkman who was trying to seduce his wife.
Pirandello is unconventional, and likes to do things his way. He meets Wilson at Wilson’s home, with Russian agents close on his tail. Their first meeting is to say the least awkward, with Wilson thinking he’s an intruder and trying (poorly, yet comically) to attack him, culminating in a shoot-out with the Russians that devastates Wilson’s house.
Real Men is a 1987 comedy/science fiction film starring James Belushi and John Ritter as the heroes: suave, womanizing CIA agent Nick Pirandello (Jim Belushi) and weak and ineffectual insurance agent Bob Wilson (John Ritter). Other starring are Barbara Barrie, Bill Morey, Isa Jank, Gail Barle, Mark Herrier, Matthew Brooks, Mariah Dobson, Mary E. Thompson and Suzee Slater.
Real Men (1987)
Directed by: Dennis Feldman
Starring: Jim Belushi, John Ritter, Barbara Barrie, Bill Morey, Isa Jank, Gail Barle, Mark Herrier, Matthew Brooks, Mariah Dobson, Mary E. Thompson, Suzee Slater
Screenplay by: Dennis Feldman
Cinematography by: John A. Alonzo
Film Editing by: Malcolm Campbell, Glenn Farr
Costume Design by: Jodie Lynn Tillen
Set Decoration by: Tom Pedigo
Art Direction by: James Allen, William J. Cassidy
Music by: Miles Goodman
Distributed by: United Artists
Release Date: September 25, 1987
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