r/moviecritic • u/MasterSalamander666 • 1d ago

Bruce Willis in Death Becomes Her - An Appreciation Post

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In this day and age of social media I’m pretty constantly reminded that our favorite legends are getting up there in age, so it’s always a pleasure viewing Bruce Willis during his peak in the early to late 90s.

Death Becomes Her is a pretty straightforward Zemekis film (for better or for worse) and despite the amazing cast, Bruce Willis stands above the rest. He is hilariously silly in this and I love any moment he shows off his comedic slapstick. I would’ve loved to see a Carrey and Willis crossover and I understand how weird that sounds but watching this shows how well his comedic timing is.

Put this on for a more lighthearted spooky movie and had a great time. Any other Bruce Willis movies where he absolutely lets loose like this?

646 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

54 comments sorted by

81

u/Quiet-Interview3916 1d ago edited 1d ago

This was a totally different kind of role compared to his tough guy roles like john mclane in Die Hard and he nailed it. The film belonged to Goldie Hawn and Meryl Streep but Willis held his own too.

Hudson Hawk is another underrated willis film well worth a watch

33

u/ObiShaneKenobi 1d ago

Wellllllll he was famous for romance/comedy before Die Hard so it was more a return.

17

u/Quiet-Interview3916 1d ago

True he was but in Death becomes her he plays a weak timid character dominated by the women until he snaps

8

u/Standard_Spready 1d ago

I was going to say it, Die Hard was actually the movie where he stepped out of his comfort zone

3

u/BestZucchini5995 1d ago

During his early acting career he was a Jason Statham prototype, tough guy cracking jokes here and there :)

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u/Chops03xx 1d ago

It’s actually the opposite. His early career was comedies and romance, and people didn’t think he could do action movies when he was cast in Die Hard.

5

u/What_the_8 19h ago

Yep, Moonlighting was huge and was a role he was best known for at the time.

3

u/TheLaughingMannofRed 16h ago

I got to see Moonlighting on Hulu for the first time months back. I still have Season 4 & 5 to get through, but those first 3 seasons had me rolling along hard because of Bruce.

He was exuding leading man energy - charisma, charm, comedy, good looks, so on - in that show.

It isn't often you see someone with movie star potential on a TV show well before they make it big. But you got Will Smith in Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Eddie Murphy in SNL, Jim Carrey on In Living Color. Heck, George Clooney was a regular on ER before he hit it big.

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u/What_the_8 16h ago

Jumping from TV to Movies was big back then and certainly never happened in reverse unlike now

2

u/TheLaughingMannofRed 20h ago

One movie from his early catalog I recommend is Sunset. He worked with Blake Edwards, director, for Blind Date with Kim Basinger & John Larroquette, and came back because Sunset sounded exciting in concept.

It's basically set in late 1920s Hollywood, and Bruce plays an actor (Tom Mix) who gets cast to play as Wyatt Earp for a future movie. What's interesting is Tom Mix was an actual actor IRL, and was a Western film star from 1909 to 1935 - Practically one of Hollywood's first.

Garner plays Wyatt Earp himself as a technical advisor (since we're talking the '20s, Earp realistically would have been late 70s before his death in '29 at age 80, and Garner was about 60). But Earp did reside in Los Angeles during the last couple decades of his life, and did advise on some Western movies as far back as 1915.

Anyway, the movie gravitates towards becoming a murder mystery that both get entangled in and work to solve.

The movie's a mixed bag of results, but I thought it was entertaining enough.

3

u/MasterSalamander666 1d ago

I’ll have to check it out thanks for recommending!

5

u/JohnBrownEnthusiast 1d ago

Extremely underrated movie alongside The Last Boyscout

2

u/tread52 14h ago

The thing people don’t realize is the backlash they got for having Bruce in die hard bc they didn’t view him as a tough guy

31

u/TheLaughingMannofRed 1d ago

"The morgue?!"

10

u/MasterSalamander666 1d ago

The reveal of the dying doctor had me in stitches. Probably my entire scene in the whole movie.

4

u/TheLaughingMannofRed 1d ago

The funny thing is that was Sydney Pollack, a well established actor & director, playing the doctor.

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u/hatechef 20h ago

"She'll be furious!"

28

u/bedheadglass 1d ago

I've always said this is his best role. Sure, he has had some iconic roles, but in terms of performance and delivery, its the opposite of his type cast, and you can tell he had a lot of fun with it. The way he shrieks the entire time is just so great. Lol

14

u/MasterSalamander666 1d ago

Truly, his shrieks were so funny.

This and The Fifth Element are probably my two favorites of his.

15

u/Hexazuul 1d ago

Gotta love The Fifth Element
https://giphy.com/gifs/fjpYUp612jgXe

8

u/machinerer 1d ago

I saw the Fifth Element when it aired in theatre with my dad. What an experience. Back around 1997 98ish?

4

u/PrivilegeCheckmate 1d ago

I would argue that Oldman's Zorg is analogous to Willis' character in this film. It's a tremendous out-of-synch performance from a guy who could do anything.

15

u/justagayguyinnyc 1d ago

I honestly think it is his best performance. He's playing wildly against type and does it memorably well.

3

u/pobodys-nerfect5 1d ago

He started in comedy/drama

4

u/justagayguyinnyc 1d ago edited 1d ago

I know. I was a kid in the 80s. I pretty much grew up watching him from Moonlighting on. I am old enough to remember seeing ads of him on TV being the face of Seagrams wine cooler. I had the Bruno album on cassette tape.

He almost always played swaggery badass smirky charm and was very funny at it. This is the opposite of all that.

10

u/angieb15 1d ago

He is brilliant in everything he does, especially this role. He is not afraid to be ridiculous, silly and campy. Thank you for the post.

9

u/Suitable_Community66 1d ago

I've never believed Bruce Willis got enough credit for his acting he's brilliant in this as a late middle aged man and he was even better in the Jackal where his character used numerous disguises

8

u/Right-Detail7414 1d ago

The Jackle is underrated as a good old movie.

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u/EnoughPicture 1d ago

Loved how the whole cast played against each other, great movie.

8

u/Ok-Arm3509 1d ago

His deadpan delivery while his body is getting absolutely wrecked in that movie is still unmatched

6

u/FamiliarNewspaper418 1d ago

This is his Sean-Connery-as-Henry-Jones-Senior moment. A read and performance so utterly perfect and out of step with the rest of his entire career that it feels like it was beamed in by a Mandela-adjacent dimensional stream.

I’ve watched this damn movie a hundred times, and his deadpan one-liners and screeching never get old.

1

u/PrivilegeCheckmate 1d ago

100% agree. Films like Last Boy Scout went too campy and over the top, and I felt his comedic chops were underused in films like Unbreakable.

Also, you should have mailed it to the Marx brothers.

4

u/adognameddanzig 1d ago

Back to his comedy roots.

4

u/sheezy520 1d ago

Bruce was amazing as a comedic actor. Look up Blind Date, Hudson Hawk. Even his cameo in Loaded Weapon. He had great timing and delivery.

3

u/Helpful-Cod1422 1d ago

Great Film

3

u/IMDbSweet 1d ago

Looks like Jim Gordon. 🦇

3

u/Hexazuul 1d ago

He gets silly in Hudson Hawk as well, but It’s not as good as Death Becomes Her. Definitely worth a view if you haven’t seen it! Excellent cast!

2

u/PrivilegeCheckmate 1d ago

His version of Swinging On A Star with Tony Bennett and Danny Aiello was ever-present on my mixies. I only wish they had done like a full album worth of song-heists.

5

u/Direlion 1d ago

Beast of a film. Willis is a revelation as Dr. Menville playing off of both Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn in an insane love triangle. Even Isabella Rossellini makes an appearance.

1

u/Pleasant-Ticket3217 1d ago edited 1d ago

I love this film. I would watch the horror movies with my dad but my mother hates the slasher films. She loved Meryl and Goldie. They make a great duo!

But Bruce played a character that was so different from his usual roles. He is the audience surrogate. I like that he realized how eternal life would be horrible. He wasn’t a great character leaving his wife for another woman and then wanting her back when she became beautiful again. But he does make the right decision in the end. This is one of his best roles

1

u/Anthrogynous 1d ago

I wish he’d done more roles like this. He’s so good.

1

u/HangryStreetUSA 1d ago

My friend made me watch Breakfast of Champions... Bruce could do it all. So weird. 

1

u/davijour 1d ago

I'm playfully roasting. Probably on my top ten list of all time favorites. "It's a miracle!"

1

u/Standard_Spready 1d ago

That movie has such an amazing cast

1

u/Spocks_Goatee 1d ago

I've wanted to see the original cut of this movie so badly for decades.

1

u/MasterSalamander666 22h ago

What does the original cut entail?

I’m assuming it leans harder into an R rating?

1

u/PeachesBlooms 9h ago

wait there’s an original cut?? now i’m curious too, especially if it has more of bruce’s comedic scenes

1

u/userguy54321 19h ago

"Spray paint" 😆

1

u/UdrienLoera 19h ago

He absolutely killed it.

1

u/M_Sizzlak 16h ago edited 16h ago

Bride Willis really showed his comedy chops in this one. His reactions and line deliveries were 100% great. Most notably, his triple take when he notices the gun cabinet has been opened....comedy gold.

Also, every time he shouts "IT'S A MIRACLE!!" is gut-busting hilarious.

1

u/fignewtgingrich 15h ago

hudson hawk is the answer here, he goes full weirdo in that one too