"The Fortune" is a movie starring several talented actors.... Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson and Stockard Channing. However, it proves that even with good actors, a movie cannot work if the script and direction are not up to snuff.

The story begins with Nicky and Oscar (Beatty and Nicholson) carting a drunk lady (Channing) off to a honeymoon. It seems that Nicky wanted to marry this drunk woman for her family fortune. But because he was already married, he had his friend Oscar marry her in a sham marriage. Unfortunately, over time, Oscar begins to fall for the woman...and hilarity ensues...or, at least it was supposed to...especially when she sobers up and decides to give away her money!

So why didn't I enjoy this film? Well, the movie seems to try too hard...too hard to be kooky instead of telling the story is a reasonable and rational manner. After all, Beatty and Nicholson are really good actors...but the film seems to think perhaps it should have had a laugh track! Subtle it sure isn't! It not only manages to be shrill but also, believe it or not, amazingly dull and unfunny....which is a problem since it is supposed to be a comedy.

*******CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!!!**********

I am more than pleased that I finally got to see "The Fortune". After learning about it through various media, I was a little nervous about what I would find. But it didn't take long before the modest chuckles turned into belly laughs, for this is one HILARIOUS movie with real life good friends Beatty and Nicholson playing so well off each other, and obviously having a hoot doing so! Beatty is the bossy "brain" of the outfit. Married, unable to divorce and - due to the M.A.N.N. act - unable to take his mistress (Stockard Channing) legally across state lines to consummate their affair, he has come up with a brilliant scheme. His - in his eyes inferior to him - friend Nicholson can substitute as the groom, thereby making their traveling with a female completely legal. They move to California and during their travels it is already hinted at that the mistress is actually an heir to a great fortune, which Beatty tries to deny as long as possible. Upon their arrival in California it doesn't take long for Nicholson to develop (lusty) feelings for the heiress and soon consummates his "marriage" to her for real, in the absence of Beatty who is working as a car salesman. A fall-out follows during which the heiress comes to realize the two men are really only after her impending FORTUNE, and she threatens to give it all away to charity. The fear of that happening causes the two, unbelievably incompetent, men to bond and plan out another scheme> the heiress must die, so that they can get to her fortune. A slew of incredibly funny slapstick murder attempts follow and the acting Beatty and Nicholson show in these scenes is beyond hilarious. A must see for anyone who's in for intense laughter and joy.

Stockhard Channing must be one of the most underrated comediennes about. This is an hilarious film. gridoon, who found it disappointing, seems to base his critique on the quality of the cast; Nicholson; Beatty & Channing. His expectations were probably pitched too high - and, sure, Five Easy Pieces is amazing, and Bonnie & Clyde is a classic. But The Fortune can stand on its own. It is very funny. The pace is hectic and the storyline has resonances of "It Happened One Night". The difference being that in the "The Fortune", the heroine is kidnapped - a botched attempt by two incompetents (Nicholson & Beatty). The so-called Swedish Syndrome seems to have rooted here, in that the captive falls for her captors & doesn't want to be saved.

This film is well worth putting into DVD format - all Regions, please.