Ruthless People

Ruthless People is a 1986 American comedy about Sam Stone, a clothing manufacturer who wants his wife Barbara out of the way. Before he can act on the idea, she is abducted by Ken and Sandy Kessler, an inexperienced couple demanding half a million dollars for her return. Sam, who stands to gain from her death, has no intention of paying, leaving the kidnappers unsure how to get their money and what to do with their difficult captive, who soon turns out to be more than they bargained for.

The film was directed by Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams and David Zucker, the team behind Airplane! and Top Secret!, and was written by Dale Launer, who had not worked with them before. It was their third feature as a directing trio, arriving between Top Secret! and, for each of them separately, later solo work such as Ghost, Big Business and The Naked Gun. Danny DeVito and Bette Midler lead as the feuding spouses, with Judge Reinhold, Helen Slater, Anita Morris and Bill Pullman among a credited cast of thirty-six.

Produced by Touchstone Pictures with Silver Screen Partners II on a budget of eleven million dollars, the film took about seventy-two million dollars worldwide, a strong return. On IMDb it holds a rating of 7.1 out of 10 from forty-three reviews, while on TMDB it stands at 6.6 out of 10 from 464 votes, suggesting critics responded somewhat more warmly than the wider audience did.