Big Business 1988 | 80's Movie Guide

Taglines: Mixed up at birth, two sets of twins finally meet their match. Big Business movie synopsis. In the 1940s in the small town of Jupiter Hollow, two sets of identical twins are born in the same hospital on the same night. One set to a poor local family and the other to a rich family just passing through. The dizzy nurse on duty accidentally mixes the twins unbeknown to the parents. Our story flashes forward to the 1980s where the mismatched sets of twins are about to cross paths following a big business deal to closedown the Jupiter Hollow factory. Big Business is a 1988 American comedy film starring Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin (each playing two roles). The movie revolves around two sets of identical female twins; one of each pair was mismatched at birth, with one ending in a wealthy urban family (the Sheltons) and the other in a poor rural family (the Ratliffs). It was produced by Touchstone Pictures, with the plot loosely based on The Comedy of Errors (1589–1594) by William Shakespeare. The film co-stars Fred Ward, Edward Herrmann, Joe Grifasi, and Seth Green, as well as siblings Michael Gross and Mary Gross. Directed by Jim Abrahams, critical reaction to the film as a whole was generally lukewarm. Midler received an American Comedy Award in the category Funniest Actress in a Motion Picture for her performance, in 1989. Big Business (1988) Directed by: Jim Abrahams Starring: Bette Midler, Lily Tomlin, Fred Ward, Edward Herrmann, Michele Placido, Daniel Gerroll, Barry Primus, Deborah Rush, Patricia Gaul Screenplay by: Dori Pierson, Marc Reid Rubel Production Design by: William Sandell Cinematography by: Dean Cundey Film Editing by: Harry Keramidas Costume Design by: Michael Kaplan Set Decoration by: Richard C. Goddard Music by: Lee Holdridge Distributed by: Buena Vista Pictures Release Date: June 10, 1988