Rotten Tomatoes
Submit search Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

Ruthless People

Play trailer Poster for Ruthless People R 1986 1h 33m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
93% Tomatometer 46 Reviews 73% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
Sam Stone (Danny DeVito) hates his wife, Barbara (Bette Midler), so much that he wants her dead. He's ecstatic when she's taken by a duo of kidnappers who want $500,000 ransom in exchange for her life. Fully intending to ignore every one of the kidnappers' demands in the hopes that they do him a favor and murder her for him, the two confused kidnappers (Judge Reinhold, Helen Slater) have to figure out how they're going to get their money, and what they're going to do with the overbearing Barbara.
Watch on Fandango Stream Now

Where to Watch

Ruthless People

Ruthless People

What to Know

Critics Consensus

It's sometimes crude and tasteless, but Ruthless People wrings acid-soaked laughs out of its dark premise and gleefully misanthropic characters.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View More
Jay Carr Boston Globe Jul 30, 2024
The summer's best vulgar Hollywood farce. Go to Full Review
Kathleen Carroll New York Daily News Apr 20, 2021
2.5/4
One tires of the movie's relentlessly shrill tone and its excessively raunchy jokes. Go to Full Review
Michael H. Price Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com Apr 20, 2021
7/10
Bette Midler's mastery of lovably obnoxious mannerisms has never had such deliciously wicked exposure, Danny De Vito brings his trademark sleazoid to full seriocomic flower, and Judge Reinhold and Helen Slater approach perfection... Go to Full Review
Sean Burns Crooked Marquee Jun 29, 2026
A raunchy screwball comedy that improbably became the Walt Disney Company’s highest-grossing movie of 1986, ‘Ruthless People’ is dirty but not smutty, naughty yet never nasty. Go to Full Review
Dan Webster Spokesman-Review (Washington) Jul 27, 2024
3/4
DeVito is superb and Judge Reinhold as one of the kidnappers remains a comfortable presence on screen. But Midler nearly steals the show. Go to Full Review
Eddie Harrison film-authority.com Dec 5, 2021
4/5
...the narrative offers the kinds of twists and turns that wouldn't disgrace a Coen brothers thriller... Go to Full Review
Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
Mitchell C @Mitchellandback 20 hrs ago When kidnapping meets pure incompetence. Everyone is greedy, pissed off, or dumb enough to deserve what’s coming. The jokes are filthy, and the whole thing runs on asshole energy. Nobody is innocent. Nobody has a clue. And that makes it fucking hilarious. See more Maria Q @MariaQe Aug 18, 2026 Ruthless People is a comedy about kidnapping, marriage, money, and the basic human failure to behave properly. Everybody wants the money. Nobody wants the husband. That’s the beauty of it. The kidnappers are amateurs, the victims are worse, and the whole thing keeps getting more stupid in exactly the right way. It’s vicious. It’s absurd. It’s hilarious. Nobody is innocent. And nobody is smart enough to know it. See more Michael H @Mixhael Aug 6, 2026 Ruthless People is a beautifully unhinged collision of greed, stupidity, and spectacularly bad planning. The characters are walking disasters with perfect timing, and the hilarious one-liners come flying like everyone showed up armed with a joke and a grudge. It's a glorious mess of kidnappers, schemers, and clueless egomaniacs all convinced they're the smartest person in the room. Sharp, ridiculous, and endlessly quotable, this is the kind of comedy chaos that leaves you laughing at the wreckage. See more Jade W @giveemsomethingto_jade Aug 5, 2026 “I’ve been kidnapped by Kmart!”. They just don’t make them like they used too See more Don V @bondo150 Aug 4, 2026 This is what happens when greed, ego, kidnapping, bad luck, and astonishing incompetence all collide at highway speed. Every character believes they're the smartest person in the room, which is exactly why everything catches fire. Metaphorically. Mostly. Danny DeVito weaponizes selfishness with such gleeful commitment that you're never quite sure whether to boo him or buy him a drink. Bette Midler transforms from apparent victim to unstoppable force of nature, stealing scene after scene with razor-sharp comic instincts. Judge Reinhold and Helen Slater complete the glorious circus, proving that criminals who can't organize their own lunch should never attempt a felony. The screenplay is the film's secret accomplice. The writing is wickedly clever, packed with sharp, hilarious dialogue and setups that pay off with the precision of an expensive watch wrapped inside a whoopee cushion. See more Linda G @Goldy78 Aug 2, 2026 I love, love, love Bette Midler. So talented in so many ways. A laugh a minute. See more Read all reviews
Ruthless People

My Rating

Read More Read Less WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW POST RATING
Down and Out in Beverly Hills 77% 52% Down and Out in Beverly Hills Watchlist Tin Men 82% 64% Tin Men Watchlist Good Morning, Vietnam 90% 82% Good Morning, Vietnam Watchlist Outrageous Fortune 58% 60% Outrageous Fortune Watchlist The Inkwell 25% 83% The Inkwell Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis Sam Stone (Danny DeVito) hates his wife, Barbara (Bette Midler), so much that he wants her dead. He's ecstatic when she's taken by a duo of kidnappers who want $500,000 ransom in exchange for her life. Fully intending to ignore every one of the kidnappers' demands in the hopes that they do him a favor and murder her for him, the two confused kidnappers (Judge Reinhold, Helen Slater) have to figure out how they're going to get their money, and what they're going to do with the overbearing Barbara.
Director
Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker
Producer
Michael Peyser
Screenwriter
O. Henry, Dale Launer
Distributor
Buena Vista Pictures
Production Co
Touchstone Pictures
Rating
R
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jun 27, 1986, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 1, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA)
$70.9M
Runtime
1h 33m
Sound Mix
Surround
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)
Join The Newsletter Join The Newsletter Cookie Settings