The Squeeze is a 1987 American action comedy film directed by Roger Young and starring Michael Keaton and Rae Dawn Chong. The film was plagued by production problems, including going over budget.
Contents
Plot
After retrieving a mysterious parcel for his ex-wife, eccentric down-on-his-luck artist Harry Berg enlists the help of private eye Rachel Dobs when he suddenly becomes embroiled with thugs and a murder investigation. The combination of Harry's many comic eccentricities and Rachel's straight-and-narrow, naive personality ends up working in their favor to help solve the crime.
Cast
Michael Keaton as Harry Berg
Rae Dawn Chong as Rachel Dobs
Joe Pantoliano as Norman
Meat Loaf as Titus
John Davidson as Honest Tom T. Murray
Danny Aiello III as Ralph Vigo
Leslie Bevis as Gem Vigo
Liane Langland as Hilda
Richard Portnow as Ruben
Paul Herman as Freddy
Release
Originally produced as Skip Tracer, this film changed its title to Squeeze Play before settling for The Squeeze. The working title refers to someone who tracks down delinquent bill payers. When released in theaters, The Squeeze made only $2.2 million at the U.S. box office. It is most notable for an accident that took place during filming, in which a stunt man was killed driving a car into the Hudson River.
An updated version of the film was briefly released on Netflix, and Comcast had an HD version On Demand in 2008. After being long out-of-print on home media for years, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released The Squeeze on Blu-ray on March 26, 2019.
Reception
Despite billing itself as "the comedy on a lucky streak", the film failed to score with most critics. Film historian Leonard Maltin called it "Dreadful...almost completely devoid of laughs or suspense."
On an episode of the movie review show At the Movies, critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert panned the film, but humorously had a difficult time discerning the plot.
The Squeeze holds a 14% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on seven reviews.