The RiffTrax Blog header image 1
← Yippee, we can drink our own urine! Amount of Something Winner! →

Tough Guys Don’t Act.

November 28th, 2008 by Bill Corbett · 23 Comments

“Oh God or Oh Man?”

That, ladies and gentlemen, is the existential question posed by the 1987 movie TOUGH GUYS DON’T DANCE.

Sadly, this movie marked the end of the Ryan O’Neal / Norman Mailer creative team, and the question (see above) is unanswered to this day.

Other posts by Bill Corbett

Tags: RiffTrax

23 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Nick Fechter on Nov 28, 2008 at 3:46 pm

    That is a difficult question to answer. Is it “Oh God my acting is so horrible, so would you put me out of my misery with a well aimed lightning-bolt?” or is it “Oh Man I wish I were man enough to put forth any effort into what I’m performing right now.”

    I think I’m going to go with Oh God as the answer.

    [Reply to this]

  • 2 Dames Like Her on Nov 28, 2008 at 3:49 pm

    This movie appears to be staggeringly stupid even by 80’s standards.
    Sorry, but I couldn’t understand the last thing Isabella Rossellini said: was it “Kill your pet”?
    Oh, and I vote for “Oh, man!” It’s a more L.A. kind of exclamation.

    [Reply to this]

    Reply from Nick Fechter on November 28, 2008:

    You know your acting is horrible when you can’t even decide what exclamation of terror that you want to use.

    His face even looked like it was having a hard time deciding!

  • 3 Mr. Slick on Nov 28, 2008 at 7:37 pm

    OH God! OH Man! … OH BOY! That was terrible. I was wondering what kind of toll a likfe of drug abuse took on Ryan & now I know.

    [Reply to this]

  • 4 Mr. Slick on Nov 28, 2008 at 7:37 pm

    He was out acted by a note!

    [Reply to this]

  • 5 Mario "Asteroid" Panighetti on Nov 28, 2008 at 7:56 pm

    Have we finally found someone with worse “oh my god” delivery than that given to us by the great Troll 2?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyophYBP_w4

    [Reply to this]

    Reply from Suzanne on November 29, 2008:

    Why did you have to post this? Now I can’t get off YouTube in search for something even worse.

  • 6 Enron Hubbard on Nov 28, 2008 at 8:07 pm

    I’ve watched Barry Lyndon several times and heard from others that Mr O’Neal was an abomination, but aside from the fact that he didn’t necessarily play the figure from the book, I never thought he was so bad.

    I was wrong.

    Perhaps if Kubrick hadn’t cut the following exchange I would have been clued in sooner:

    “This is the sort of toast that’s drunk a great deal too seldom in my family, and you’ll please to receive it with all of the honours. Here’s to Captain and Mrs. John Quin and long life to them!”

    BARRY:
    “Oh man! Oh God! Oh man! Oh God! Oh man! Oh God!”

    [Reply to this]

  • 7 Kris on Nov 28, 2008 at 8:33 pm

    Now I’m ashamed to have been born in 1987.

    [Reply to this]

    Reply from Kleenex on November 29, 2008:

    I’m ashamed to know that I’m old enough to have fathered you in 1987! Oh and I’m deeply ashamed for Ryan O’Neal. Deeply, deeply ashamed.

  • 8 justhesh on Nov 28, 2008 at 9:31 pm

    OK. I’ve seen dozens and dozens of episodes of MST3k. Episodes from every era.

    But this.

    This is by far the most god awful acting I have ever seen.

    It couldn’t have been worse acting if the letter had said that an evil cymbal monkey had killed his dog.

    [Reply to this]

    Reply from Nick Fechter on November 29, 2008:

    “Remember to believe in magic, or I’ll kill you!” :D

  • 9 Tv Miller on Nov 29, 2008 at 7:38 am

    I don’t see what the big deal is. When I found out my dog Snuffy went to a ranch in Texas instead of upstate New York, I had the same reaction…with a lot more spinning. This is from Blair Witch Project right?

    [Reply to this]

    Reply from Kelly on November 30, 2008:

    ROTFLMAO at this comment.

  • 10 Ben on Nov 29, 2008 at 9:19 am

    Maybe he had an epiphany about his future, where he chains his half-brother to a staircase, his son beats on him with a fireplace poker and he retaliates with gunfire?

    [Reply to this]

  • 11 Teaser on Nov 29, 2008 at 9:21 am

    Oh man! Oh God! Oh man! Oh God! Oh man! Oh God!……..Thats all I have to say about that clip

    [Reply to this]

  • 12 Casey on Nov 29, 2008 at 10:41 am

    WHAT?!!?!?HE could have killed 2 birds with one stone by just shouting “JESUS CHRIST!”

    [Reply to this]

    Reply from Neb on November 29, 2008:

    You are giving that clip far more cogitational attention than it deserves. I do, however, agree with you. Zing!

    Reply from Suzanne on November 29, 2008:

    I need to take your clever pills.

  • 13 NanoRiffite on Nov 29, 2008 at 1:48 pm

    Does the letter really say “I don’t think we should talk about it, ’cause your pet kill them”?

    [Reply to this]

  • 14 Nick Fechter on Nov 29, 2008 at 6:41 pm

    It’s a no-brainer as to why Ryan and Norman stopped working with each other, any director who allowed that ear-splitting dialogue to be in his movie doesn’t deserve friendship.

    [Reply to this]

  • 15 norgavue on Nov 29, 2008 at 8:55 pm

    ouch I mean oh man!

    [Reply to this]

  • 16 king on Feb 23, 2009 at 3:06 am

    oh man oh god how sad is it to see

    [Reply to this]

Leave a Comment