Throw Momma from the Train
1987
**½
Director: Danny De Vito
Cast: Danny DeVito, Billy Crystal, Anne Ramsey, Kim Greist, Kate Mulgrew, Rob Reiner, Branford Marsalis, Joey DePinto, Raye Birk, Bruce Kirby
Larry is a struggling novelist who hates his successful ex-wife. Owen is a student in his creative writing class who can't stand his abusive mother. Owen proposes a plan where he would kill Larry’s ex-wife if Larry kills his mother. Danny DeVito's dark comedy takes its cue from Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train, and it doesn't hide the fact. A comedic version of the same idea sounds promising, but the set up doesn't lead to anything particularly clever or dark enough. The second half turns repetitive and tiresome.
