Couch Trip, The (1988) ** (out of 4) Disappointing comedy about an escaped mental patient (Dan Aykroyd) who is mistaken for a real psychiatrist and he's asked to take over a radio station for a real doctor (Charles Grodin) who just happens to be having a nervous breakdown. The nut-case replacement becomes a hit with all of his listeners except for a homeless man (Walter Matthau) who knows the truth about him. Considering the cast you can't help but view THE COUCH TRIP as a major disappointment. I'm not sure of the history behind this film but it really does seem as if the three leads signed on to do the picture and then the script was written. Then the screenwriters, already knowing they had these comic geniuses signed on, decided to just come up with the weakest idea and try to pass it off as a story. The entire story is basically your typical mistaken identity thing but it just doesn't work in terms of laughs. You pretty much know a story is in trouble when the cast has to work so obviously hard to try and come up with some laughs. This can be seen as early as the first scene when a man is about to commit suicide and the Aykroyd character walks out onto the ledge to try and talk to him. Just watch how hard and over-the-top Aykroyd is having to act and it's because the material is so weak. All three of the actors give it their all but there's just nothing here for them to work with. Aykroyd goes over-the-top playing this madman but no laughs ever follow. Matthau plays crazy better than anyone else but it just makes you smile and never does it get a laugh. Grodin plays the same type of smug character that he's done throughout his career but it just doesn't work here. The entire film is just one bland joke after another and if it wasn't for the actors giving it their all then you would have hit the eject button after about thirty-minutes.

Dan Ackroyd in his prime stars as Johgn Burns, a mental asylum escapee who poses as his own shrink to travel out to La La Land and host a popular radio talk show while the regular host (Charle Grodin in his snarling prime) takes a vacation. Along the way, Ackroyd hooks up with Walter Matthau, a fellow nutjob, and the rest is sheer hilarity. Ackroyd and Matthau play off very well off one another. Ackroyd's stunning real-life wife, Donna Dixon, is along for the ride as yet another shrink. The ending feels a bit rushed and contrived, which is the only thing that keeps me from giving this film my top rating, an 8. A lost '80s gem.

One of the most underrated comedies. Dan Akroyd is hilarious in this over the top role; Charles Grodin gives a performance nearly as good as in "Midnight Run;" and Walter Matthau gives a superb comedic performance in this sometimes subdued, sometimes wacky film. Akroyd and Matthau have great chemistry together....

Dan Aykroyd plays an inmate for the criminally insane who escapes a correctional facility. One day he took a call from his psychiatrist and accepts a job as host of a call-in radio show. Plans his escape to Los Angeles to report to the new job. There a lot of adult humor with no nudity. Not recommend for kids. Worth to watch.