Peter Boyle really need to be putting on the pants when he goes to his therapy movies in this amusing but not great comedy that pairs him with Michael Keaton, Christopher Lloyd and Stephen Furst as for mentally ill patients being taken to a Yankees game but never get there. As a result, they end up on the streets of New York all night after their doctor (Dennis Boutsikaris) is attacked and left unconscious in an alley after witnessing a murder. These escapees from Macadamia Manor get into all sorts of mischief, with Keaton running into waitress girlfriend Lorraine Bracco and saving her from a bunch of obnoxious customers while the other three just end up in some very bizarre situations

I thought it ironic to see Boyle and Lloyd in the same movie together, often mistaking one for the other in the various oddball roles they've played on screen. Lloyd is very funny, appearing initially Stark naked and flashing his buttocks to the audience as boy walks around pretending he's the doctor. Later on, Boyle ends up in a all black church, reacting hysterically to the musical interlude, one extra in particular looking on at him as if he's about to break into fits of laughter. Lloyd goes around with his clipboard pretending to be a city inspector everywhere he goes, and of course, that gets him into loads of trouble. I was crying fits of laughter when Boyle ends up giving his testimony in church with hysterical results.

This is a likeable film, far from perfect but still with the ensemble in amusing situations but not really a great story. Keaton and Furst have the weakest material, and Keaton in particular doesn't come off that great because his character is more violent than funny. Shots of vintage New York City late at night in the 80's are fun, as is a shot of the original World Trade Centers scenes from New Jersey before the van goes through the Holland Tunnel, as well as some amusing comments about the tiles on the ceiling of the tunnel underneath the Hudson. The script was fine, but it's more a bunch of incidents rather than a real plot. In the end, it's like a very long extended comedy short with a flicker of a story, mainly memorable because of the two comic geniuswe in fun supporting roles. Director Howard Zieff has great comic timing, and could have been another Mel Brooks. Worth checking out in spite of its imperfections.

In ways, this seems a similar concept to that of One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest (besides the fact that the main character is genuinely crazy and committed). Basically, Dr. Weitzman (Dennis Boutsikaris) works with with patients in a sanitarium, and one day he convinces the administration to take one group of patients to a ballgame. But he stumbles into a crime in progress, and ends up in hospital. The group meanwhile, wander off individually into New York, forced to cope with an often more bizarre place than the sanitarium. The patients include sensible, but also easily stressed leader Billy Caufield (Michael Keaton),Henry Sikorsky (Cuckoo's Nest's Christopher Lloyd) wanting to be the authority and paying more attention to other peoples' behaviour than his own, Jack McDermott (Peter Boyle) who believes he is Christ, and Albert Ianuzzi (Stephen Furst) who never talks for himself and mainly imitates others speeches. Also starring Lorraine Bracco as Riley, Lizbeth MacKay as Henry's Wife and Olivia Horton as Henry's Daughter. In the end, the patients are the heroes when, after being arrested, they get their own way and get the real criminals, and get to see their ballgame. Very good!

I actually love this movie. I used to watch it over and over, back in the old satellite days, lol. The concept and storyline aren't ones that have been remade time and time again. When I still use quotes today from a film I first watched over 25 years ago, it's a good one! Michael Keaton and Peter Boyle are especially hilarious in this. If you like Michael Keaton in his goofier roles, you'll enjoy this one immensely.