Peter Michael Goetz

In Los Angeles, California, petty thief Edward "Eddie" Dash (Richard Pryor) makes a meager living posing as a jazz musician on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. One day, Eddie drives to the Los Angeles County Probation Department, where he negotiates the terms of his community service. He agrees to spend 100 hours helping a patient from the Rivington Clinic sanatorium re-acclimate to outside life. George (Gene Wilder), the patient in question, is a pathological liar. When Eddie arrives, he has second thoughts about helping George, but George is elated to meet Eddie. They leave the clinic, and Eddie takes George to the Hollywood Wax Museum. There, George is frightened by "Frankenstein" and runs out of the museum, where he collides with a stranger named Al (Phil Rubenstein). The man mistakes George for his gambling partner, Abe Fielding. In order to repay a gambling debt, Al invites "Abe" to dinner that night. George protests, but Eddie sees an opportunity to make money and convinces him to go to dinner as "Abe." At the restaurant, Al asks "Abe" about his five-month disappearance, and George pretends to be "Abe" by fabricating stories about his and Eddie's recent adventures. Eddie is bewildered but tries to play along. After dinner, a woman named Elaine Fielding (Mercedes Ruehl), who claims to be the real "Abe's" wife, arrives in a limousine and demands to know how he spent the past five months. As they are driven home, Elaine tells "Abe" that she has no intention of believing his lies. She accuses him of having an affair and hints that the woman's jealous husband will seek revenge. At Elaine's house, George assumes that the real Abe Fielding has already been discovered by Elaine's husband and murdered without anyone's knowledge. He attempts to explain to Elaine that he is not Abe Fielding, but she walks around in her lingerie, and he becomes tongue-tied. The next day, Eddie drives through Beverly Hills, California, to the Fielding mansion, where George has adopted the persona of "Abe." Hoping to convince Elaine that Eddie should stay with them, "Abe" claims that Eddie is a famous retired prizefighter, and she agrees. When the friends are alone, Eddie expresses admiration for the far-fetched stories, but George is sad about succumbing to his illness as a pathological liar. That evening, "Abe" catches Eddie pilfering valuables from the mansion, but Eddie declares he is taking the objects to be cleaned. Later, "Abe" attempts to seduce his "wife," but their tryst is interrupted when a car pulls into the driveway. Eddie answers the door and Rupert Dibbs (Stephen Lang), the real Abe's business manager, storms into the house. Rupert welcomes "Abe" home, flirts with Elaine, and insults Eddie, who secretly pockets a pile of cash and several credit cards before driving away. George, as "Abe," feels bad about the ruse and tells Elaine that he must leave. He returns to his therapy group at the Rivington Clinic. Meanwhile, Elaine meets with Rupert, who reveals that she is an actress hired to impersonate "Mrs. Abe Fielding." Elaine wants out of the scheme, but Rupert convinces her to give the "role" another try. Rupert then goes to the county jail to pick up Eddie, who had been arrested for stealing the real Abe's credit cards. Rupert tells Eddie the truth about Abe Fielding. In real life, Abe was a free spirit who traveled the world, and none of his father's business associates, including Rupert, knew much about him. When Abe's father died, the young man was set to inherit a brewery fortune. After a brief search, it was discovered that Abe Fielding had died in a "freak accident." Rupert, coveting the inheritance for himself, needs to keep the estate out of probate, so he chose George to pass as "Abe," thinking the impersonation would be easy for a pathological liar. With the exception of Eddie, all of the people George met after leaving the hospital were actors hired by Rupert to corroborate "Abe's" identity. Rupert offers Eddie $10,000 to bring George back from the Rivington Clinic and continue living "Abe's" life. When "Abe" returns to the mansion, he attempts to impress Elaine, taking her to a German restaurant and delighting her with a yodeling song. They spend an intimate evening together. The next day, Elaine and Eddie take "Abe" to the dentist, per Rupert's request. While sitting in the waiting room, they realize that Rupert wants the dental records so that he can kill George, pass him off as "Abe," and claim the company fortune. Elaine and Eddie confront Rupert at his office, but the businessman denies their accusations. When Elaine leaves, Rupert admits their suspicions are true and asks Eddie to kill "Abe." Eddie is aghast, but a short while later, he drives "Abe" to the mountains under pretense of a hunting trip. At the hunting lodge, "Abe" unknowingly dons a wiretapped jacket given to him by Rupert, who listens in on "Abe" and Eddie while they hunt. Two gunshots ring out, and Rupert concludes that "Abe" is dead. A few days later, Rupert's actors meet in the tycoon's office for their final payment. Rupert asks them to attend "Abe's" memorial service at the Fielding brewery that afternoon as a final performance. At the funeral, Eddie confronts Rupert about the scam. Just then, the guests hear yodeling from the casket, alerting them to the fact that "Abe" is still alive. As "Abe" rises from his deathbed, Rupert claims he is an impostor, but the actors turn against Rupert and pretend that George is really "Abe." A chase ensues through the brewery and Rupert pushes "Abe" into a brewer's vat. However, Eddie follows and hits Rupert over the head with a bottle, rescuing his friend George. Finally able to tell the truth, George announces that his true name is "George Washington." Everyone would rather believe he is Abe Fielding, the proper inheritor of the brewery fortune. In the final scene, Elaine and George get married, and George and Eddie agree to be friends forever.

While his mom recovers in hospital from a heart attack, John puts his busy life on hold to fly home and help his elderly dad around the house. John's son later joins them and they all truly bond for the first and, tragically, final time. John, a busy, "always-on-the-run" executive, learns during a meeting that his mother may be dying and rushes home to her side. He ends up being his father's caretaker and becomes closer to him than ever before. In the process, he teaches his father to be more independent which causes problems with the man's wife. Estranged from his own son, the executive comes to realize what has been missing in his own life. As John, his father and his son slowly bond, and even his mother returns from the hospital, everything starts seeming right with the world - until dad goes to have a minor surgery only to come out of it demented and a shadow of his former self. —Jerry Shannon <jlshan@ix.netcom.com> Someone helps his dad help his dad while his grandma is in the hospital. However, the situation changes in a way no one could expect. "Dad" offers an emotional, funny, and sad story to be enjoyed by everyone. Even though there are laughs, this movie will ensure an emotional roller coaster. —Christopher-147932384 Successful businessman, John, has to take care of his father after his mother has fallen victim to a heart attack. Although they've become estranged to each other, they finally succeed in coming together again, and even John's son gets involved. As John, his father and his son slowly bond, and even his mother returns from the hospital, everything starts seeming right with the world - until dad goes to have a minor surgery only to come out of it demented and a shadow of his former self. —Homme A. Piest <piest@pobox.leidenuniv.nl> John, an overworked business type, rushes home to be with his father after his mother has a heart attack. He helps his dad learn to live more independently and this ends up affecting the estranged relationship he has with his college aged son. As John, his father and his son slowly bond, and even his mother returns from the hospital, everything starts seeming right with the world - until dad goes to have a minor surgery only to come out of it demented and a shadow of his former self. —Nate Dogg <holtslander@hotmail.com>

A military weapons engineer struggles to do his job responsibly, while a hapless tank commander has to live with the consequences in combat years later. Wylie is a lazy engineer. Landry is a Sergeant specialising in Armour. They have never met but their lives become entangled when Landry must take the tank Wylie designed into combat. Wylie is waiting for his employer to go out of business when he meets another engineer who gives him a disk with the plans for a system that will save his employer. The other engineer is dead moments later leaving Wylie with the disk and credit for the design. Suddenly Wylie is no longer a hack, but the saviour of his company and finds his life is no longer the same. —John Vogel <jlvogel@comcast.net> In 1982 Wylie is working for a company located in a former bowling alley which is about to go under. In 1984 Lt. Landry is demonstrating a tank in Kuwait that causes chaos. This is confusing, but the events are related. Wiley meets a man in a bar who is designing technology for a tank and is about to meet with KGB spy Jeff. Fearing what may happen (and he is right), he sneaks his design into Wylie's briefcase. Wylie finds the technology, and given that he will save his company by doing so, he reluctantly goes along with a co-worker's scheme to pass the work off as his own. The technology doesn't work perfectly but it can be improved. Wylie secretly asks a co-worker to investigate the plan further and discovers even worse problems. During all this Wylie also cheats on his wife with boss Clair and runs for his life from Jeff and other goons. Landry has troubles of his own. With plenty of silliness from the natives. In the end, one has to wonder if Wylie can fix the problems before Landry gets blown up by a tank that has already performed poorly. —This is essentially the plot summary from my user review.