Forget urban paranoia, suburban paranoia is where it’s at in this darkly amusing comedy about the denizens of one cul-de-sac reacting to their new neighbors. An oddball mix of broad comedy, mystery, and arrested maturity, The ‘Burbs is a highly entertaining skewering of normality at every turn. But don’t expect a heavy handed lecture, for this is an affectionate take on neighbors with characters that may seem similar to people you have known.
The 1980s was good decade for comedies on television and in theaters, from what I recall. About every form of humor was at its peak, so it is interesting to look back at this movie which came out at the end of the decade. Director Joe Dante’s satire about living in the suburbs was well timed. Mass migration (often referred to as “white flight”) had emptied city neighborhoods of middle class families seeking greener pastures – or at least small lawns. Fertile ground for comedy was there and mixing it with horror movie tropes made a minor classic that is fondly remembered by many.
The ‘Burbs begins with a clever zoom in that starts with Universal’s famous globe logo and ends up in the labyrinthine streets of a suburb. Specifically, the dead end street of Mayfield Place, where it is night out and strange noises from a run down house have Ray Peterson (Tom Hanks) losing sleep. There is something of a horror movie atmosphere to the setup, but quickly the humor makes its appearance. Watch what happens when he steps into the neighbor’s yard and back again to see what I am talking about.
Yes, I am already telling you to go see the movie and the review is barely underway. Deal with it.
