Love Thy Neighbor: The ‘Burbs
Universal Pictures (1989).
By R. J. F.
The ‘Burbs will make you think twice about the people living next door.
My parents are spies and have instilled their spy spirit in me. Before you call the authorities, let me explain. My parents’ kitchen table is situated in front of a large window that looks out onto their street. When we sit there and eat, or just catch up with each other, we like to watch the neighborhood as people walk their dogs, go by on bikes, or any other activity that is vaguely interesting. It’s also a good place to set up shop to try and figure out what’s going on within any of the neighboring houses that we can see. I can’t even count how many times I’ve sat there with my parents and heard them tell me the latest neighborhood gossip as we look at the neighbors’ houses. This tendency to watch the street has bled into my own apartment life. I have an excellent view from my living room window of the neighboring houses on my own street, as well as the houses and apartment buildings that are behind my little place; I have a 360 degree view that’s perfect for snooping.
This is life in the suburbs, as well as a small portion of the premise for the movie The ‘Burbs, starring Tom Hanks. This is not one of Hanks’s blockbuster hits that he’s well-known for, in fact, this movie did poorly when it was released and has all but been forgotten in the years since. It doesn’t even have cult classic status, to my knowledge, unless there’s a secret society out there who relish in this oddly funny movie. But, The ‘Burbs has been a favorite of mine since I was a kid, even if it’s considered a flop. Hanks losing his shit in a comedic fashion will never not be funny. With his voice climbing up a few octaves, combined with twerky body movements to emphasize his frustration, this movie hits that funny bone every time.
Hanks plays Ray Peterson, an average husband and father who lives on a street where all the neighbors are in each other’s business. Some of the neighbors are his friends (Rumsfield and Art), some are just annoying acquaintances that he exchanges pleasantries with in passing (Ricky), and some are just faces he sees every now and again. Ray and his friends tend to keep tabs on the comings and goings of their neighbors, gossiping about this or that, and, generally, being busy bodies. So, when a mysterious and strange family, the Klopeks, move into an extremely run down home on this pristine street and an elderly neighbor goes missing, tongues start wagging. Suspicions start to arise about the missing neighbor and the weird family that may or may not be involved in his absence, so Ray gets dragged into a plot to find out what is really going on with the Klopeks by his inquisitive friends.
I think my favorite character is Rumsfield, played by Bruce Dern. He’s this ex-military guy who is always eyeballing anyone and everyone new to his ‘hood. His extreme personality, such as doing the flag salute every morning, climbing up on his roof with a sniper gun during a not-so-stealth spy session, and using a supposedly friendly meet and greet with the Klopeks in order to interrogate them is amazing. He’s an overly zealous and overly protective guy who relishes his military expertise and doesn’t back down from those traits. I know I can think of at least one neighbor on my parents’ street that is a minor version of this character.
Then there’s Art, portrayed by Rick Ducommun. He is a meddler and instigator to the tenth degree, and the person he always tags in his outlandish plans is Ray. Poor Ray gets dragged into Art’s insane plot to get to the bottom of all things Klopek, but Art’s paranoia at what may or may not be happening at the Klopeks starts to ingratiate itself in Ray’s mind, and he has no choice but to get involved in Art’s antics. Art basically sets Ray up for all of the falls in the movie, especially at the end when Ray and Art accidentally blow up the Klopeks’ house. The thing with Art is that he doesn’t take responsibility for his instigating ways and seemingly walks away from the scenarios unscathed and undeterred. He kind of sounds like a shitty friend, but he wasn’t wrong about the Klopeks. Through a series of spying, trickery, and breaking and entering, Ray and his pals do figure out that the Klopeks are a murderous family, and the entire harebrained plan to smoke them out was put into play by Art.
I know that this is not the best comedic film ever made, in fact, some of it is downright over-the-top and cheesy. In fact, there has been some debate over the years about whether this movie is even worthwhile to watch. In the grand scheme of all movies “Hanks”, I’m almost positive that it would be way down on any list if one were to rank his best to worst movies. But, I can’t deny that the hijinks and physical comedy are the real draw of the film.
The truth is that The ‘Burbs made an impression on me when I was a kid because I grew up on a street where we watched our neighbors and discussed what may or may not be going on in people’s homes, so in a sense, it reminds me of my childhood, sans the murderous family down the street. I’m pretty sure there are other The ‘Burbs fans out there, but they’re probably just too busy spying on their neighbors to make it known.
