I would really like to have seen how the people who made 'Folks!' managed to convince each other that this was a good idea. I looked for one of those 'Making Of' specials to hear the cast and crew try to explain themselves but suspiciously there wasn't one. How did they sit through screen writing sessions without somebody speaking up and questioning the morality of jokes about a man with Alzheimer's Disease? How did they convince Tom Selleck to play a role that requires his character to lose a toe, an ear, an eye and a testicle? How did they sit through the cast and crew screening without somebody speaking up about what a wretched idea this was? Maybe no one wanted to lose his or her job but it was no consequence to anyone that the studio would lose money.I'm a defender of the idea that nearly anything can be made funny with the tenderest of care, however Alzheimer's Disease is a subject that would probably need more caution then most. Ted Kotcheff directs 'Folks!' with wild abandon and that's his first mistake.Tom Selleck is woefully miscast as a New York stockbroker with a lovely wife and wonderful kids and a mother and father who are getting along in years. He goes to Florida when his mother needs surgery because she's worried about leaving Dad all alone. Dad (Don Ameche) has contracted Alzheimer's disease and wanders around like Mr. Magoo ambling around with a goofy smile and completely impervious to the chaos around him.Selleck belatedly figures out that there is something wrong and lets him drive the Cadillac which promptly gets backed into the lake. After that Dad burns down their trailer home naturally Selleck has to give them a place to live. This is an excuse for a long series of cruel jokes in which Dad gets son into one accident after another each more painful then the last.The most inexplicable scene comes when the parents offer to commit suicide by filling their car with gasoline so he can set them on fire so that he can collect the insurance money. That scene even in the hands of the best screenwriter would be impossible to make funny.There are three dozen different wrong decisions that went into the making of 'folks!' not the least of which is the miscasting of Tom Selleck. Selleck is such a down-to-earth actor, such nice guy on 'Magnum P.I.' and in films like 'Three Men and a Baby' and 'Quigley Down Under' that it makes me cringes to watch him playing a creep getting knocked around like a pinball. Ditto Don Ameche whom I've admired as a smart actor in his early films and in his later career in films like 'Cocoon'. I would really like to know how they talked him into playing this role.What on earth made anyone think that this was a good idea? I could probably argue that this might have worked as an extremely black comedy. Just to add another point, this movie was released just after the terrible accident in New York in which an elderly man was killed in a car accident so you can see that even the time for release was bad.

My father insisted I should watch this film with him and I regret that I wasted my time watching--I want that approximate hour and a half back! The "funny" little film concerns the elderly Don Ameche staying with his son, Tom Selleck. It turns out that Ameche isn't just "forgetful" like he's been told, but has dementia (it seems a lot like Alzheimers). And, because Dad is so frequently "out to lunch" he gets into so much trouble again and again--almost like the adorable tyke from BABY'S DAY OUT. The problem, though, is that you know BABY'S DAY OUT is all fantasy and the baby is going to be fine. Plus, you aren't laughing at the baby for having a deformity or illness. But, in this case, you are being encouraged to laugh at a man who is slowly losing his mind--and where's the humor in that?! If this film had been more successful, would the producers have then made films making fun or people with Cerebral Palsy or a Flesh-eating Virus?!?! There are a lot of people who should have felt ashamed at having made this film.

At first I thought, poor guy, what else can possibly go wrong in your life, then it got worse. And they did it in a style that made me laugh. But, the more times I watched it, the more I saw the true meaning of a loving relationship, and the child's responsibility to take care of the parents. This movie is timeless and should be a classic, mostly for the children that find themselves faced with a parent that loses touch, but can still play and laugh and be loved. When your the child in this position, anything to make you look at the situation in a smiling light is very important. It needs to be shown again and again and again. I always need a good laugh.

Very strange and somewhat demented black comedy that really plays more like a Road-Runner/Wile E. Coyote cartoon than a live action motion picture. Tom Selleck takes in his elderly parents (Don Ameche and Anne Jackson) after his father accidentally burns down their home. Immediately everything comes apart for Selleck as he and his sexy wife (Wendy Crewson) start to have marital problems, then he is investigated for possible insider trading by FBI man Michael Murphy, then his crazed sister (Christine Ebersole) and her unruly kids move in after they are evicted and the hits keep coming when Ebersole starts to fool around with Selleck's door man (Robert Pastorelli). Things are going from bad to worse fast and then Jackson pleads with Selleck to kill her and Ameche (no kidding). Selleck's financial woes and the fact that Ameche is suffering the early stages of Alzheimer's Disease are the reasons for Jackson's request. Selleck naturally is torn with what to do, while Ebersole thinks it is a great idea (she obviously has a heart of gold, haha). Soon Selleck tries and tries to have his parents knocked off so he can collect their insurance, but their safety is never really in danger. Instead he is the one who might end up dead trying to come through. I must admit that I like this film a little more than I dislike it. It is a bargain-basement effort and the ideas are no better than those that a junior high student would come up with. With that said, the cast is first-rate and actually make the story come to life with quirky situations and surprisingly hilarious dialogue. There is a darkness to this picture though as there are questions raised about Alzheimer's Disease (a disease that is so tough on everyone who has seen it firsthand) and the rights of elderly people who do not want to lose one another to death. I guess the main problem with me here is tone as I laughed, but did not always feel good laughing at these characters. Ameche is a revelation (as he always seemed to be) and the other primary players are talented performers. Overall I got stuck in the middle with "Folks!", but this is still a picture that deserves a little more credit than it has received. 2.5 out of 5 stars.