[.ca] The Man with One Red Shoe

From Amazon.com:
Adapted from a popular French comedy-thriller, The Man with One Red Shoe follows a concert violinist (Tom Hanks) used as a patsy in a conflict between two rival factions of the CIA. Singled out at the airport solely because he's wearing mismatched shoes, Hanks is henceforth believed to be a mole with important information; a rogue crew of agents follows him, searches his apartment, and even seduces him in order to find out what he knows. At the same time, loyal agents--who also believe he's a mole--follow and protect him from predation by the rogues. Lori Singer plays a beautiful blonde spy with a conscience and an astonishing backless dress; Dabney Coleman, Charles Durning, and Edward Herrmann are agents trying to second-guess each other; Jim Belushi plays Hanks's best friend, a jealous percussionist, and Carrie Fisher plays Belushi's wife, a flautist who's infatuated with Hanks and wants him to make some jungle love. Hanks plays it straight and is reliably pleasant. In the hands of Hitchcock, this might have generated some real suspense; as it is, it's amusing with some good twists, some weak gags, and one remarkable bicycle stunt. --Bret Fetzer

When is this coming to anamorphic DVD?:
I love this little movie. Carrie Fisher looks even hotter than she did in that bikini thing in Jabba's lair. Very funny writing and directing. The photography is excellent and the broadcast print has aged very well. It looks more like an early 90's movie, with only the blonde seeming a bit 80's. Surprisingly, this is an ensemble cast. Hanks, though at the center of all the action, is sharing time with a lot of other talent. From beginning to end I think this film works.

More Fun Then A Barrel of Monkeys:
This review refers to the 20th century Fox VHS edition.... Tom Hanks shines early in his career, as he gives us an hour and half of pure fun.Although this film was based on the French farce"The Tall Blonde Man With One Black Shoe", I saw it as a kind of Mad Magazine spoof of North by Northwest. Not the same story but a similar premise. Musician Richard Drew(Hanks) is minding his own business, wearing one red shoe(the other seems to have gotten lost), when unbeknownst to him he is targeted as a spy by the CIA. One of two rival CIA bosses(Charles Durning/Dabney Coleman) has set him up to put the other on a wild goose chase.The laughs are non stop as these bumbling agents turn Drew's house upside down, try seducing him with their sexiest agent(Lori Singer),and drug him. Through all this he never suspects what is going on and falls for the girl. On the other hand his buddy (Jim Belushi) may be headed for a little R & R as he is the one finding the bodies left behind, and his over-sexed wife(Carrie Fisher) is trying to hide her affection for Drew. Carrie does a great imitation of Tarzan's chimp.. watch(or I should say listen) for that one. It is Directed by Stan Dragoti and also includes Ed Hermann in this very funny cast. It is rated PG, but you might want to view it before watching with the kids, there are some moments closer to PG13. The VHS has a nice clear picture and it is in HI-Fi Stereo. This edition also has closed captions if neccessary. Enjoy......Laurie

funny and in some ways believable:
There is a competition of sorts between two groups of people in the CIA headed by the two bosses (Dabney Coleman and Charles Durney). One group sets the other up by claiming they have a spy/mole with some important information and that he's coming in on a certain plane. They leak the information by deliberately talking into the bugs they found planted by the other team. There is no one, but when part of their team goes to the airport, with the other team sets up with their men there to discover who the informant is, the team that has put the plan in motion, randomly picks out an unsuspecting passenger getting off a plane who just happens to be wearing one red shoe, which is Tom Hanks. They pretend to make contact and then, Tom Hanks, completely unaware of anything unusual is now under surveilence. Tom Hanks is a musician who travels to different countries playing with a concert. He and his friend and his friend's wife (who has the hots for him) have just returned from one of his trips. He is tracked and followed by both teams, one to spy on him and the other to try and protect him, his place is turned upside down, a beautiful agent is sent to get close to him, his friend's wife is hitting on him, wanting him to go to bed with him. She likes to play Tarzan in bed and makes some wild noises, which is recorded by Dabney's team and later heard by the wife's husband as they play the recording in their van and he thinks she's in it, and so on... You get the picture. Lot of things going on all the time. The whole time Tom Hanks is completely unaware of any of this and is falling for the beautiful blond. Not a whole lot of depth, but a fun little movie and actually has parts in it that are quite believable in this day and age. Enjoy!

The real reason the French don't like us:
I had high hopes for this one when it was released; the original French movie 'The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe' is one of my favorite comedies, and hey, who doesn't like Tom Hanks? But this remake is streets apart from that - for all the mayhem in the common plot of intelligence intrigue and unwitting decoys, the remake plays it lots meaner and uglier than the original...and then is downright prudish on the sexual angles that made the original a pleasing adult comedy. Maybe if you never saw the original you can like or tolerate this one. As for me...Sacre bleu, it stinks.

...:
Man with One Red Shoe is chased after by überbeautiful femme. I get the feeling that the French The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe that this is based on probably plays the absurdity much better, but as one of my favourite movies as a kid, I can't help but give The Man with One Red Shoe five stars. It's the perfect thoroughly average movie... even The Pirates of the Carribean didn't quite pull it off.