MOVIE · 1987

Throw Momma from the Train

ComedyCrimeThriller88 min

Billy Crystal is Larry Donner, a blocked novelist and writing teacher whose ugly split from his ex-wife makes him the unwilling half of a murder bargain. In his workshop, he meets Owen, Danny DeVito’s awkward, resentful student, who’s desperate to escape his overbearing mother. After latching onto a familiar train-and-murder premise, Owen proposes a trade: he’ll kill Larry’s ex if Larry agrees to kill Momma, with Anne Ramsey turning that mother into a looming, foul-tempered presence. As Larry tries to dismiss the whole thing as a bad joke, Owen starts behaving as if the arrangement is already in motion.