Eating Raoul

Movie Name: Eating Raoul
Year of Release: 1982
Director: Paul Bartel
Starring: Paul Bartel, Mary Woronov, Robert Beltran, Susan Saiger, Lynn Hobart, Richard Paul, John Shearin, Ed Begley Jr., Buck Henry, Ralph Brannen, John Paragon, Don Steele
Genre: Comedy
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 7
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Synopsis and Review:

Paul Bartel had already a few directorial features on his resume, by the time "Eating Raoul" was shot and released. Bartel started his directorial career under the tutelage of Roger Corman, much like Jonathan Demme, Joe Dante and James Cameron, to name but a few. However, "Eating Raoul" was largely self financed, and took him quite a while to get shot, primarily due to the paltry budget. The film follows the story of loving couple Paul and Mary. Paul works in a cheap wine shop, and is struggling to make his fine tastes match the philosophy and approach of its owner. Mary is a nurse, who has to tackle the flirtation from the patients. Following a particular heated incident, Paul is fired, which threatens to destroy the plans the couple has to start a restaurant of their own. As they try to work through what to do next, they're also confronted with a group of swingers, who are having a get together in an apartment on their floor. Following a particularly persistent swinger who is intent on seducing Mary, they end up killing him and taking away their money. This accident inspires them to devise a plan of seducing men to their apartment, under the guise of Mary's beauty, kill them and rob their money. They find an unexpected accomplice in Raoul, who comes to their house to fix the locks, and eventually offers to help get rid of the bodies, in exchange for part of the profits. This starts a lucrative deal, until Raoul and Mary get involved romantically. 

This low budget satire, remains as funny today as it did when it came out in 1982. Paul Bartel managed to create a story which poked fun at a series of topics, namely sexual behaviors, economic meltdowns, and people's general selfishness and inability to look beyond their own interests. While all the adventures experienced by the swingers are quite funny, what still resonates the most from the film is Paul and Mary's loving and tight relationship, which ultimately overcomes all obstacles they tackle. Even if the budget constraints may come across in certain aspects of the narrative, it never prevents the satire to be fully realized nor the dark comedy associated with certain actions Paul and Mary have to eventually do. The supporting cast is for the most part, largely caricatures, but they still illustrate the challenges Paul and Mary have to go through to achieve their dreams (particularly the hilarious Buck Henry). The camera work from Gary Thieltges is solid as is the score from Arlon Ober. A cult classic always worth revisiting.