The Siskel and Ebert At The Blogathon – Opportunity Knocks (1990)

This is my first of 3 submissions for the The Siskel and Ebert At the Blogathon being run by 18 Cinema Lane

Tnx for letting me take part!

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“We all know that your major life decisions aren’t made in the boardroom, they’re made in the bathroom.” – Eddie

Number of Times Seen – 1 (19 Sep 2019)

Brief Synopsis – A con artist trying to stay hidden from gangsters poses as a house sitter for a wealthy man while he is away in the far East.

My Take on it – I have always been a fan of Dana Carvey and his talent with impersonations both on Saturday Night Live and elsewhere and was quite keen to finally see what this film is all about.

He is perfectly cast here and it is was a great stepping stone for his film career which unfortunately never took off.

The story presented ere is quite predictable yet they find ways to add in a few nice heart warming moments which help make it more enjoyable to watch.

In addition, they are able to throw a bunch of surprises at the audience along the way that helps make this work even better.

Love the way that this film tries to show a correlation between con men and actors even if they each have very different kinds of motivations which are quite diverse even if the eventual end point is essential very similar.

They di an excellent job of integrating Carvey’s most famous impersonation into this film and we get to see and hear his impression of former President George H.W. Bush.

This film takes place in Chicago and they do a wonderful job making the story revolve around important aspects of the city especially when it deals with baseball and the Cubs.

Bottom Line – Carvey is superb in this film since it is ale to utilize his many impersonation talents.  The story itself is a bot predictable, yet it still manages to throw in a few surprises along the way as well as some heart warming scenes that help make this even more enjoyable to watch. The movie does a nice job showing how similar actors and con men can be in their actions even of their motivations are extremely different.  Love the way that this film manages to incorporate both Carvey’s Bush impressions and the Chicago setting of the story so well.

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – The “IRS Building” demolished near the end of the movie is actually the Baker Hotel in Dallas, Texas which was demolished in the early 1980s to make room for the building that is now known as Whitacre Tower. (From IMDB)

Rating – Globe Worthy (7/10)

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