MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant

Glucedee It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Casey Duggan It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Byrdz It does not drag despite the fact that the two girls and George Carlin all do a little cross dressing. (forgive the attempt at a pun) Bette and Shelley could not be more different in character or acting style and they do work well together in this one. Literally bouncy Bette and up-tight, befrilled and buttoned up Shelley are a great buddy team up. It's fun and funny and fast. Like all screwball comedies, the plot is preposterous but you don't really mind that. Pay attention to all that happens in the beginning of the film as bits will prove to be important to the plot twists and turns. Only down side was that Bette needed her mouth washed out with soap... we got that she was "lower class" than Shelley in more ways than her word choices. (sigh) All in all , it's an entertaining afternoon's watch (or re-watch)

Jonathon Dabell Eclectic director Arthur Hiller gives us another movie from his "odd-couple-up-to-their-neck-in-adventure" oeuvre with Outrageous Fortune. The film has obvious similarities to Hiller's earlier hit Silver Streak, and is a clear forerunner to his See No Evil Hear No Evil. In fact, the concept of ordinary characters being caught up in international intrigue found considerable favour during the '70s and '80s – besides the three Arthur Hiller films already mentioned, there's also the likes of Hanky Panky, The Man With One Red Shoe, High Anxiety and Jumpin' Jack Flash (to name but a few).Sandy Brozinsky (Bette Midler) and Lauren Ames (Shelley Long) are members of a New York acting class. They are as opposite as can be – Sandy loud, vulgar and brash; Lauren bookish, tender and sweet. Without knowing it they are both in love with the same man, Michael Sanders (Peter Coyote). When he is seemingly killed in a mysterious explosion, the two distraught lovers discover the truth about each other… and later, when asked to identify his remains, they realise that the body in the morgue is not the Michael Sanders they've shared a bed with for the past few weeks. Thrown together by chance, Sandy and Lauren embark on a cross country odyssey to track down their mystery man. Soon they are up to their necks in international espionage as it becomes clear they are not the only ones searching for Michael Sanders – indeed, the CIA and the KGB want him just as much as they do! The film is put together very slickly, with a fast-moving plot and plenty of snappy one-liners. At this point in her career, Midler was on a hot streak in a series of smash-hit comedies (Down And Out In Beverly Hills and Ruthless People being two of the biggest). Her character here is either flat-out hilarious or horribly annoying, depending on your taste in humour. Long plays it straighter and comes across very likably as the sweeter of the two hoodwinked lovers. Once the plot twists unravel themself, the film loses steam and in its final quarter becomes a disappointingly routine chase movie like any other. But up to that point, Outrageous Fortune is a lot of fun, a feminist variation of all those buddy-buddy flicks so typical of movies from the era. It has energy, vulgarity and attitude - much like its two female protagonists – and if you're looking for an entertainingly easy way to kill 100 minutes, you could do a lot worse.

edwagreen Two completely different dames fall for the same guy. Bette Midler and Shelly Long make a wonderful dynamic duo.The problem with the film is that once the total plot is revealed, the movie goes downhill in quality and becomes one with full chase scenes.The quality here is that these totally different women could possibly bond together. Of course, given the situation that confronts them, bonding would be a way of survival.Robert Prosky was quite funny as the acting teacher, who is really a KGB agent. Peter Coyote has his moments as the false elementary schoolteacher up to his neck in espionage as a double agent.Fun, but then it becomes increasingly inane.

moonspinner55 Adversaries Bette Midler and Shelley Long take turns putting each other down while fighting over the same smooth-talking man (Peter Coyote, miscast but OK). Turns out their lover has staged his own demise and is now on the run from the CIA. After the initial set-up is in place, there's nowhere really this slapstick comedy can turn. Midler and Long each harp on the other's idiosyncrasies (for Long, it's her snippy gloating; for Midler, it's her bossy brashness). The third act in the desert smacks of plain desperation, and poor George Carlin is given the shaft in an ignorant supporting role. For the first twenty minutes or so, the movie has a sassy appeal; it prods at the viewer for laughs--like an R-rated sitcom--but does come through with some funny bits of business. Director Arthur Hiller and screenwriter Leslie Dixon eventually toss the whole thing overboard, and not even Bette's energy can save it. ** from ****