"Lost In America" with David Brooks and Julie Hagerty (1985)

In this fast paced, and hilarious comedy, Albert Brooks plays David Howard, an advertising executive who gets passed over for a promotion because he is doing a great job in his current position. This sets off a mid-life crisis which causes him to dramatically quit his job, sell his home and embark on a cross country trip with his wife in a Winnebago. Their first stop is in Las Vegas, where his wife Linda, played with exceptional sweetness and naiveté by Julie Hagerty, decides to join her husband in casting caution to the wind. She does this by losing all of the money they got from selling their house in one of a casino.

Of course this is only the beginning of a wild and hilarious adventure; along with a clash of wills; as David and Linda seek to recover their money, as well as the lives they have traded away. The message in this film is pretty clear; the hell you know is almost always better than the hell you might be trading for.

This film was first released in 1985, and became an instant favorite of mine. This is the first time I have re-screened this gem in several years, and even with all the changes in technology which have occurred since then, the film remains fresh and vibrant. The desire to cast it all to the wind and “live among the Indians”, as David puts it, is still alive in most of us. We just don’t get the opportunity to do it. And after seeing this film, you may be glad that we don’t!