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Two of a Kind (1983 film)
Encyclopedia
Two of a Kind is a 1983 American romantic comedy film
directed by John Herzfeld
and starring John Travolta
and Olivia Newton-John
. The original music score was composed by Patrick Williams. The film has Travolta as an inventor and Newton-John as a bank teller
. It is up to both criminally-minded individuals to save Earth from God
's destruction. It was nominated for five Razzie Awards: Worst Actor
(Travolta, also for Staying Alive
), Worst Actress
(Newton-John), Worst Director (Herzfeld), Worst Screenplay, and Worst Picture
.
God agrees to the scheme, and the typical Earth man selected by the angels is Zack Melon — a failed inventor who, threatened by loan sharks, decides to hold up a bank. Zack points his gun at bank teller Debbie Wylder who ostensibly gives him all the money. But when Zack peers into the sack after the robbery, he sees that Debbie has substituted bank deposit slips for the cash and has kept the money for herself. Zack tracks her down to reclaim his stolen money and the two fall in love.
(Travolta, also for Staying Alive
), Worst Actress
(Newton-John), Worst Director (Herzfeld), Worst Screenplay, and Worst Picture
.
The album was further bolstered by the appearance of "Ask the Lonely", a song rock group Journey
had initially intended for their multi-platinum 1983 album Frontiers but which was only available on the soundtrack album, and Patti Austin
's "It's Gonna Be Special", which wasn't a major pop hit but peaked at #15 on the R&B charts and #5 on the Dance charts in 1984.
Romantic comedy film
Romantic comedy films are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as that true love is able to surmount most obstacles. One dictionary definition is "a funny movie, play, or television program about a love story that ends happily"...
directed by John Herzfeld
John Herzfeld
John Herzfeld is an American motion picture and television director, screenwriter, actor and producer. His feature film directing credits include Two of a Kind , 2 Days in the Valley , 15 Minutes and The Death and Life of Bobby Z...
and starring John Travolta
John Travolta
John Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
and Olivia Newton-John
Olivia Newton-John
Olivia Newton-John AO, OBE is a singer and actress. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has amassed five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles and two No. 1 Billboard 200 solo albums. Eleven of her singles and 14 of her albums have been certified gold by the RIAA...
. The original music score was composed by Patrick Williams. The film has Travolta as an inventor and Newton-John as a bank teller
Bank teller
A teller is an employee of a bank who deals directly with most customers. In some places, this employee is known as a cashier. Most teller jobs require cash handling experience and a high school diploma. Most banks provide on the job training....
. It is up to both criminally-minded individuals to save Earth from God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
's destruction. It was nominated for five Razzie Awards: Worst Actor
Razzie Award for Worst Actor
The Razzie Award for Worst Actor is an award presented at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards to the worst actor of the previous year. The following is a list of nominees and recipients of that award, along with the film for which they were nominated....
(Travolta, also for Staying Alive
Staying Alive
Staying Alive is the 1983 film sequel to Saturday Night Fever, starring John Travolta as dancer Tony Manero, with Cynthia Rhodes, Finola Hughes, Joyce Hyser, Steve Inwood, Julie Bovasso, and dancers Viktor Manoel, Kate Ann Wright, Kevyn Morrow and Nanette Tarpey...
), Worst Actress
Razzie Award for Worst Actress
The Razzie Award for Worst Actress is an award presented at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards to the worst actress of the previous year. The following is a list of nominees and recipients of that award, along with the film for which they were nominated....
(Newton-John), Worst Director (Herzfeld), Worst Screenplay, and Worst Picture
Razzie Award for Worst Picture
The Razzie Award for Worst Picture is an award given out at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards to the worst film of the past year. Following is a list of nominees and recipients of that award, including each film's distribution company and producer.-1980s:...
.
Plot
Four angels — Charlie, Earl, Gonzales, and Ruth — have been in charge of Heaven for the last 25 years. They are playing a golf match in Heaven when their game is interrupted by God, who has now returned to the office and does not like what he sees down on Earth. God wants to order up another flood and start all over again, but the angels persuade God to reconsider, reasoning that if a typical Earth man can reform, it would prove that all mankind is capable of it.God agrees to the scheme, and the typical Earth man selected by the angels is Zack Melon — a failed inventor who, threatened by loan sharks, decides to hold up a bank. Zack points his gun at bank teller Debbie Wylder who ostensibly gives him all the money. But when Zack peers into the sack after the robbery, he sees that Debbie has substituted bank deposit slips for the cash and has kept the money for herself. Zack tracks her down to reclaim his stolen money and the two fall in love.
Cast
- John TravoltaJohn TravoltaJohn Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
as Zack Melon - Olivia Newton-JohnOlivia Newton-JohnOlivia Newton-John AO, OBE is a singer and actress. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has amassed five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles and two No. 1 Billboard 200 solo albums. Eleven of her singles and 14 of her albums have been certified gold by the RIAA...
as Debbie Wylder - Charles DurningCharles DurningCharles Durning is an American actor. With appearances in over 100 films, Durning's memorable roles include police officers in the Oscar-winning The Sting and crime drama Dog Day Afternoon , along with the comedies Tootsie, To Be Or Not To Be and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, the last two...
as Charlie - Oliver ReedOliver ReedOliver Reed was an English actor known for his burly screen presence. Reed exemplified his real-life macho image in "tough guy" roles...
as Beasley - Beatrice StraightBeatrice StraightBeatrice Whitney Straight was an American theatre, film, and television actress. Hers remains the shortest acting performance in a film to win an Oscar. In her winning role in the 1976 film Network, she was on screen for five minutes and forty seconds, the shortest time ever for the winner of the...
as Ruth - Scatman CrothersScatman CrothersBenjamin Sherman "Scatman" Crothers was an American actor, singer, dancer and musician known for his work as Louie the Garbage Man on the TV show Chico and the Man, and as Dick Hallorann in The Shining in 1980...
as Earl - Richard BrightRichard Bright (actor)Richard James Bright was an American actor best known for his role as Al Neri in the The Godfather films.-Early life & work:...
as Stuart - Toni KalemToni KalemToni Kalem is an American actress, screenwriter and director. Kalem is best known for her portrayal of Angie Bonpensiero on the HBO series, The Sopranos....
as Terri - Ernie HudsonErnie HudsonErnest Lee "Ernie" Hudson is an American actor known for his roles as Winston Zeddemore in the Ghostbusters film series, Sergeant Albrecht in The Crow, and Warden Leo Glynn on HBO's Oz.-Early life:...
as Detective Skaggs - Jack KehoeJack KehoeJack Kehoe is an American film actor appearing in a wide variety of films, including the crime dramas Serpico, The Pope of Greenwich Village, and Brian De Palma's 1987 The Untouchables, as well as the 1976 comedy Car Wash, and 1988 cult classic Midnight Run...
as Mr. Chotiner - Robert CostanzoRobert CostanzoRobert Jason Costanzo is an American actor. He has an acting career spanning over thirty years and is often found playing surly New York types such as crooks or low level workers and mixes both drama and comedy roles...
as Captain Cinzari - Castulo GuerraCastulo GuerraCástulo Guerra is an Argentine actor who found success appearing in American films and television. Film roles include: Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Cold Heaven, The Usual Suspects, Meet Me in Miami, Where the River Runs Black and The Celestine Prophecy""...
as Gonzales - Gene HackmanGene HackmanEugene Allen "Gene" Hackman is an American actor and novelist.Nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two, Hackman has also won three Golden Globes and two BAFTAs in a career that spanned five decades. He first came to fame in 1967 with his performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde...
as God (uncredited) (Hackman would later work with Travolta in Get ShortyGet ShortyGet Shorty is a 1990 novel by American novelist Elmore Leonard. In 1995, the novel was adapted into a film of the same name.-Plot summary:...
)
Reception
The film was nominated for five Razzie Awards: Worst ActorRazzie Award for Worst Actor
The Razzie Award for Worst Actor is an award presented at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards to the worst actor of the previous year. The following is a list of nominees and recipients of that award, along with the film for which they were nominated....
(Travolta, also for Staying Alive
Staying Alive
Staying Alive is the 1983 film sequel to Saturday Night Fever, starring John Travolta as dancer Tony Manero, with Cynthia Rhodes, Finola Hughes, Joyce Hyser, Steve Inwood, Julie Bovasso, and dancers Viktor Manoel, Kate Ann Wright, Kevyn Morrow and Nanette Tarpey...
), Worst Actress
Razzie Award for Worst Actress
The Razzie Award for Worst Actress is an award presented at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards to the worst actress of the previous year. The following is a list of nominees and recipients of that award, along with the film for which they were nominated....
(Newton-John), Worst Director (Herzfeld), Worst Screenplay, and Worst Picture
Razzie Award for Worst Picture
The Razzie Award for Worst Picture is an award given out at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards to the worst film of the past year. Following is a list of nominees and recipients of that award, including each film's distribution company and producer.-1980s:...
.
Soundtrack
The film was salvaged by a platinum soundtrack which yielded three singles for Newton-John:- "Twist of FateTwist of Fate (Olivia Newton-John song)"Twist of Fate" is an early-1984 hit from Olivia Newton-John that headed the soundtrack for the film, Two of a Kind, starring Newton-John and John Travolta. It was written by Peter Beckett & Stephen Kipner and produced by David Foster for the film. It reached number four in Australia and Canada,...
" - No. 5 Pop (her last of 15 Top 10 Pop hits) - "Take a Chance" (duet with John Travolta)- No. 3 AC (B-side to "Twist of Fate")
- "Livin' in Desperate Times" - No. 31 Pop
The album was further bolstered by the appearance of "Ask the Lonely", a song rock group Journey
Journey (band)
Journey is an American rock band formed in 1973 in San Francisco by former members of Santana. The band has gone through several phases; its strongest commercial success occurred between the 1978 and 1987, after which it temporarily disbanded...
had initially intended for their multi-platinum 1983 album Frontiers but which was only available on the soundtrack album, and Patti Austin
Patti Austin
-Life and career:Austin was born in Harlem, New York. She made her debut at the Apollo Theater at age four and had a contract with RCA Records when she was only five. Quincy Jones and Dinah Washington have proclaimed themselves as her godparents....
's "It's Gonna Be Special", which wasn't a major pop hit but peaked at #15 on the R&B charts and #5 on the Dance charts in 1984.