Posted: Thu., Dec. 31, 1987, 11:00pm PT

Punchline

By Variety Staff

Columbia. Director David Seltzer; Producer Daniel Melnick, Michael Rachmil; Screenplay David Seltzer; Camera Reynaldo Villalobos; Editor Bruce Green; Music Charles Gross; Art Director Jack DeGovia

Sally Field Tom Hanks John Goodman Mark Rydell Kim Greist Pam Matteson

Despite its title, Punchline is not a comedy. It's an uneven melodrama where Tom Hanks exhibits flashes of brilliance as a caustically tongued stand-up comic in a strange, undefinable romance with protege Sally Field. Hanks is the real reason to see the film and those who enjoyed watching him in Big will find a different, more realized comedian.

Punchline opens up the unfunny backstage world of stand-up comics by zeroing in on the lives and motivations of two very different people - Hanks as Steven Gold, a failing medical student who derives his humor from his experiences with cadavers and other things, and Field as Lilah, a Jersey housefrau and achingly bad novice comic with an unfulfilled desire to make people laugh.

Writer-director David Seltzer has tapped into one of the more intriguing subcultures of the entertainment world, here a place called the Gas Station in Manhattan where club owner Romeo (Mark Rydell) gives almost anyone a break.

There's a dark side to Hanks' character, which makes his time on stage more than superficially entertaining. Field supposedly brings out his soft side, playing the most unlikely of romantic interests - a styleless 40ish mom of two kids. How she manages to escape her claustrophobic existence playing wife to a traditionally minded insurance salesman husband (John Goodman) to try her schtick with the other wannabes is never quite believable.

The production overall manages to keep its audience off-center with surprisingly unpredictable moments - notably when Rydell is on the scene trying to keep things or his comics together.

(Color) Available on VHS, DVD. Extract of a review from 1988. Running time: 128 MIN.