Tom Jolliffe on the childhood-defining impact of Ivan Reitman’s movies…
If you grew up in the 80s and 90′, your awakening to the notion of what a director is, and recognising them probably began with stalwarts like Steven Spielberg. Additionally, from this era of great family entertainment and crowd pleasers, you may have become aware of Richard Donner, Ridley Scott, George Lucas and Ivan Reitman. Among a list of iconic contemporaries, Reitman’s catalogue as both producer and director reads impressively.
As a producer, Reitman had a start, surprising to some, backing horror, not least early David Cronenberg shockers Shivers and Rabid. He also found himself behind the directors chair on horror/comedy Cannibal Girls (starring Eugene Levy). Toward the end of the 70’s, there was a more definitive shift into comedy. He produced Animal House, the cult classic John Landis film. Reitman’s comedic focus also began a run of Bill Murray lead films, as the two formed a cohesive bond that seemed to work well. If Meatballs was flawed but popular, Stripes was better but arguably less iconic (it’s still something of an overlooked comedy classic).
In 1984 a good run of films had brought Reitman into the limelight and to a project that has had the kind of pop culture legacy very few films can achieve. Somewhere on that shelf below Star Wars-level is a line of films such as Ghostbusters. It was, despite the almost shlubby production approach to a comedy about shlubby ghost busters, a classic. The brainchild of Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis needed someone to meld two very distinctive visions into something coherent. Aykroyd approached the film as something of believer, wanting something darker and more serious. Ramis was perhaps a little more blasé, wanting to take the wry approach.
Reitman had the unenviable task of pulling these elements together (as well as utilising Murray’s nonchalant approach to adhering to the script), ensuring the cast delivered, and bringing a film to life that perhaps had little right to be quite as classic as it ended up being. The budget was beefy without being huge (and the film had huge ideas with a tight time scale). Of course, by the end, everything came out spectacularly. A cast headed by Murray, Aykroyd, Ramis and Ernie Hudson was bursting with laid back, likeable chemistry. They are brilliantly backed by Rick Moranis, Annie Potts, Sigourney Weaver and William Atherton. The film is visually engaging, almost effortlessly funny in places, has a killer soundtrack, and back in my younger years, was also scary.
Ghostbusters grossed an enormous amount for the time, perfectly walking that tightrope between being great family entertainment, and a film with plenty of jokes for the grown ups. A sequel was inevitable and came at the end of the decade. It wasn’t as inspired, but still a hell of a lot of fun (and miles better than the recent reboots). Reitman also boarded the Schwarzenegger express. Whilst Arnold always had a knack for wry one liner delivery, associating him with outright comedy was still perhaps a stretch, but Reitman’s belief ultimately took Arnie’s career into an interesting new caveat. Like so many of Reitman’s comedic works, Twins and Kindergarten Cop have attained their own iconic status. Kindergarten has been memed almost as much as any film, and persistently quoted. Twins isn’t too far off.
Both films showed Reitman’s great strengths in balancing elements. KC begins almost par for the Arnold course, with a surprisingly violent gun fuelled opening as Kimble, a hard bitten cop on the edge, busts bad guys. The switch to familial comedy with Arnold awkwardly having to deal with precocious kindergartners provides a lot of comedy hijinks. It’s great fun and it’s also heartfelt in the right places too (another Reitman speciality). Twins just had a genius concept from the off, with Danny DeVito and Schwarzenegger playing twins separated at birth. Playing Schwarzenegger as a well read, boyishly naïve man, raised on a remote island is a stroke of genius, particularly up against the cunning and slightly deviant street smarts of DeVito’s shlubby character.
If that move to comedy worked for Arnie, Reitman’s hand with trying the same for Sylvester Stallone was less successful, though Stop or My Mom Will Shoot is something of guilty pleasure for me. Whilst continuing to back some box office hits like Beethoven and Space Jam as a producer, Reitman also directed Dave (a kind of satirical/comical take on Kagemusha) and then went for another go at sending up Arnie’s image, this time making him pregnant (and teaming with Danny DeVito again) in Junior. It’s not without its fans and memorable moments, even if it’s not quite as inspired as Twins. Six Days Seven Nights was enjoyable and featured Harrison Ford in good form opposite Anne Heche. Evolution would take elements of what made Ghostbusters work, and translate it into an alien invasion film, which was solidly entertaining if a classic example of early 00’s middling blockbuster comedy. It perhaps lacked the more satirical edge and dynamic visuals of Mars Attacks!.
Reitman up until his death has had his hand on plenty of projects as a producer, including Ghostbusters: Answer the Call and the recent Ghostbusters: Afterlife. In 2009, he received his one and only (surprisingly) Oscar nomination as a producer for Up in the Air. Sadly, the long rumoured sequel to Twins, Triplets, will now remain in the development stasis its been locked in for over a decade. Would Reitman have had one final inspired comedy to add to his CV? Who knows.
Undeniably though, for many, there are landmark films in your cinematic upbringing. Certain films are pinpricked into your psyche as important moments in nurturing a love of cinema. For me, alongside films like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Back to the Future and other iconic blockbusters, there is a podium stood high for Ghostbusters. It’s sad to see, that many legends of such a key era in blockbuster cinema are leaving the mortal coil (Richard Donner last year). The legacy though, will live on forever.
What is your favourite Ivan Reitman film? Let us know on our social channels @flickeringmyth…
Tom Jolliffe is an award winning screenwriter and passionate cinephile. He has a number of films out on DVD/VOD around the world and several releases due out in 2021/2022, including, Renegades (Lee Majors, Danny Trejo, Michael Pare, Tiny Lister, Nick Moran, Patsy Kensit, Ian Ogilvy and Billy Murray), Crackdown, When Darkness Falls and War of The Worlds: The Attack (Vincent Regan). Find more info at the best personal site you’ll ever see here.
Originally published February 19, 2022. Updated November 7, 2022.
