Formative Comedies | Julie Klausner

Comedian Julie Klausner on the films that inspired her.

04.07.2025

If I were going to lie to you, I’d swear that the films of the 1980s ad 1990s that shaped my still- pliant tastes and which would later influence my work as a writer/performer were hoity-toity and high falutin’. But the movies I loved when I was growing up were regular-toity and didn’t falute at all. They were, for the most part, mid-budget studio comedies that generally didn’t exceed 90 minutes or seem to, starring character actors and comics, aimed at all ages, and which aired in heavy rotation on cable. They are infinitely quotable ear-worm-food; the origin of inside jokes you share with siblings and sleepover friends.. High concept premises, grounded set pieces, A+ jokes and heartfelt foundations all helped give these trinkets their sparkle. I have fond memories of these comedies, and I’m eager to enthuse about the ones that still hold up.

Throw Momma From The Train (1987)

A severely-underrated comic confection, Throw Momma From the Train is 88 minutes of joyful propulsive silliness fueled by a cast of magnificent character actors and a fat-free plot that references Hitchcock through the lens of a professor who hates his ex-wife and a nebbish who hates his mother. Momma is Danny DeVito’s directorial film debut, and he adorably co-stars in this highly quotable (“Hi Tea!”) crime comedy alongside a grumbling, high-status Billy Crystal and the inimitable Anne Ramsey, who got an Academy Award nomination for about ten blessed minutes of screen time (“OWEN!”). Barry Sonnenfeld does camerawork and his trademark push-ins are as copious as Crystal’s knit wear. Rob Reiner also lends his talents to this ensemble of men doing their best in 1987, even while they’re all feeling methodically squeezed out by the larger-than-life women who are, increasingly, doin’ it for themselves. Kate Mulgrew (Star Trek: Voyager, Dope Thief), Kim Griest (Brazil) and even Oprah Winfrey (!) are here to tighten the screws on these schlubs, and you love to see it. Now, bring me a soda with some ice in it!

She-Devil (1989)

Three years before Death Becomes Her, Meryl Streep draped herself in desaturated Pepto-pink and made a multi-course meal of her role as a Jackie Collins-esque romance authoress who snatches a caddish Ed Begley Jr. out from underneath the Raisinet-looking mole they glued near Roseanne Barr’s nose. A highly organized revenge is exacted according to plan, justice is served hot, and the pleasures of watching the hubristic getting their comeuppance are matched only by the camaraderie the disenfranchised women of the film share as they band together and help each other get to the finish line. With an unforgettable supporting role by the wonderful Linda Hunt and an appearance by Sylvia Miles, who, like salt, makes everything she’s in tastier, this bauble is directed by living legend Susan Seidelman (Desperately Seeking Susan, Smithereens, Making Mr. Right, Cookie) and adapted by Barry Strugatz and Mark R. Burns (Married to the Mob) from Fay Weldon’s best-seller, The Lives and Loves of a She-Devil.