Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!

filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Walter Sloane Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

SnoopyStyle It's Birch County, California. Deputy Halik (James Keach) is a brute that just got his promotion from the Chief. Judge Nedra Henderson (Sally Kellerman) orders a bunch of bad drivers to traffic school. Dana Cannon (John Murray) tricks Halik and Deputy Morris to smash up the Chief's car. They are reduced to teaching traffic school. Judge Henderson conspire with the two cops to fail the incompetent group and sell their impounded vehicles. The group includes Cannon, the ditsy NASA scientist Amy Hopkins (Jennifer Tilly), hypochondriac Joan Pudillo (Wendie Jo Sperber), puppeteer Scott Greeber (Brian Backer), Doc Williams (Fred Willard) and near-blind Loretta Houk (Nedra Volz) who drove Emma Jean (Where's the beef? Clara Peller) onto the airport runway.John Murray is not funny enough and is a pale imitation of his brother Bill Murray. The movie may work marginally with Bill in the lead. Without him, the movie has limits and one can't help but notice that John's mannerisms are very alike to Bill. Of course, John doesn't quite have the same charisma or energy. The movie struggles to maintain group chemistry. The jokes struggle for laughs.

merklekranz If you would like to wow your friends with a 1980s comedy that they probably have never heard of, then look no further than "Moving Violations". This movie has a cast of pedigreed comedians, including Fred Willard, Jennifer Tilly, and Sally Kerrerman. The lead goes to John Murray, brother of Bill Murray. His performance is far from unique, as it clearly mimics Bill Murray and John Belushi. In fact "Moving Violations" has certain scenes that seem to have been influenced by "Animal House, and "The Blues Brothers". Overlook these minor annoyances and be mesmerized by the rapid fire gags which make time fly by with maximum laughs. If you admire any of the above films or actors, this is a must see. - MERK

Jack Gallagher At the time this film was made (the 1980s), it was sometimes the case that a person might enjoy watching horror films. This cultural moment is crystallized in artistic permanence here by the character of Wink Barnes, played by Ned Eisenberg. In his many scenes, Mr. Barnes brings up the topic of horror films despite their inapplicability to the diaphanous and delicate plot of Moving Violations. On meeting a woman, he asks her about her own tastes in horror cinema. Being told that a classmate is anxious about his father's reaction to a dismaying contretemps, Wink advises watching a horror film. When Dana Cannon tells a largely pointless anecdote about violence in the Arab world, Wink arrives and announces that he, given his tastes for violence, would like to see such a thing. Asked to meet his friends socially, he arrives dressed as Jason Voorhees. Some sophisticated viewers might feel that they had come to sufficiently understand Wink's character at this point and would not need to see his schtick reiterated without elaboration any more. Such viewers are in for a surprise as Barnes appears again and again, sounding his one note each time.Other fashions and political movements of the 1980s are similarly examined by the film (punk music, space exploration, perms), but none with the relentless jackhammer regularity of the mystifyingly dull jokes about Wink Barnes's taste in film.

oceanave Not sure why John Murray didn't do more films - he definitely should have, and hopefully he will do some in the future. True, his acting style is similar to his older brother Bill's, but he's individual enough that he coulda made it big. "Moving Violations" is good. Not great, but it was pretty well directed and it's got its strengths. Actually, it made it into theaters only six months after it was written and filmed - if anything, I'd say that they should have gone back and rewritten and polished up a few things. The plot does get stretched a bit thin over the course of the movie...the best parts come in the beginning and middle. The ending is pretty limp and the whole Judge Henderson/Deputy Halik sexcapade and ensuing car chase sequence just gets boring with all the boffo antics. The character of Scott the Puppeteer, played by Brian Backer (Rat of "Fast Times at Ridgemont High") doesn't develop as well as it should have, and the chick who plays his love interest wasn't written well at all - BUT, Backer's star scene near the beginning with the puppet stage rolling down the hill is a total gut-buster. Despite these few problems, there are enough good gags and Murray definitely keeps the movie afloat. Jennifer Tilly is superb as Amy Hopkins the nimrod rocket scientist. James Keach, Wendie Jo Sperber (who had just done "Back to the Future"), Ned Eisenberg, and Nedra Volz all contribute a lot of positive energy, making "Moving Violations" one of those 'so bad, it's good' movies.