the robert downey jr film guide

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Too Much Sun (1991)

Tags: Supporting Role, Comedy, Last Resort for the Obsessive Fan, Independent, Career Trajectory: Up and Coming Actor, RDJ Improvises!, Underwear (Or Less), Weirdness, Passes the Bechdel Test, Not Released on DVD, Rated R

Summary

Two gay siblings race to have a child in order to collect a big inheritance.

Director

Robert Downey Sr.

Downey Factor

Medium to low.

Character

Reed Richmond, an aspiring actor working as a real estate scam artist.

Looks

Decent ... there is a thong shot in this one.

Performance

Comedic, but doesn’t compete with the more over-the-top characters.

Accent

Occasionally lapses into a British rock star character.

Sings

Too Much Sun, the Brit rock theme song during the credits.

Love & Sex

In this sex-obsessed movie, his only ‘love’ scene is with himself.

Dies, Gay or Villain

No, no, no.

Cast

Ralph Macchio, Eric Idle, Laura (Ernst) Downey, Andrea Martin

Connection

Laura Ernst Downey (stepmother) in The Last Party. Robert Downey Sr.’s Moment to Moment, Hugo Pool, Pound, Up the Academy, Rented Lips, America,Greaser’s Palace, in The Last Party and Johnny Be Good. Ralph Macchio in Up the Academy. Allan Arbus in Greaser’s Palace.

RDJ Says

It doesn’t deal with homosexuality responsibly, but it’s not supposed to. That makes me a little uneasy, but I know that my father is so accepting it’s not like he’s not aware ... What it’s really going to be about is me going to work in the morning and, my dad saying, “How are you going to embarrass me today?”

Lit Reference

The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare
The plot of the film is loosely derived from this play.

Time & Place

Present day (1991) Los Angeles.

Availability

Released in theaters 25 January 1991. Rare, out of print. Not released on DVD. Available to rent or buy on some streaming services.

Foreign Titles

Argentina: Dos Parejas Desparejadas (Two Mismatched Couples)
Brazil: Loucos Casais da California (Crazy Couples from California)
France: Dernières vVlontés (Last Will and Testament)
Germany: Ein Stich Zuviel (One Pass Too Much)
Italy: Eredità Con Il Morto (Inheritance with the Dead Man)
Portugal: Dois Irmãos ao Sol da Califórnia (Two Brothers in the California Sun)
Sweden: Släkten Är Värst (Family is the Worst)

Rotten Tomatoes

20% Fresh | 5 Reviews

Critical View

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: It doesn’t work. Too Much Sun covers no new ground and exposes no new follies. Downey [Sr.] has become what every true satirist fears most: outdated.

Vincent Canby, The New York Times: A comedy of loosely strung together farcical situations that, played at half speed, elicit more good will than sustained laughter. Too Much Sun is helped enormously by the burlesque clowning of Eric Idle, the comic solemnity of Howard Duff and the youthful exuberance of the director’s gifted son, Robert Downey Jr. Much of the comedy, which avoids good taste like the plague, has to do with Sonny’s heroic efforts to have heterosexual relations.

2 Reasons to See It

1. You’re doing a graduate study on horrible American farces.
2. A quick thong shot and lots of weird British rockstar talk from Downey.

Overall

A terrible, needlessly anti-Catholic farce full of flat stereotypical characters. It sucks.

If You Like It

You might also like Back to School (1986), Rented Lips (1988), minstrel shows.

Photos

Video