The definition of a created disaster, i.e. a film that never had a chance, having been written off by its parent studio 20th Century Fox long before it was even released. To those who were paying attention back in December 1983, when TWO OF A KIND made its unsuccessful theatrical bow, the film seemed like a musical romance starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John (reuniting onscreen five years after GREASE). The plot details weren’t disclosed by the theatrical trailer or the promotional art, with the publicity centered primarily on the Newton-John single “Twist of Fate,” which was so successful the film’s original Bill Conti score was reworked by composer Patrick Williams to incorporate the song’s music.
The film, in fact, was a rethink of the heavenly comedy mold of old, which gave us films like THE HORN BLOWS AT MIDNIGHT (1945) and A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH (1946). As with them, TWO OF A KIND is concerned with angels and Armageddon, with the former represented by a quartet of angelic beings (Beatrice Straight, Charles Durning, Scatman Crothers and Castulo Guerra) and the latter threatened by the voice of God (an uncredited Gene Hackman), who’s planning on instituting another flood. The angels manage to convince God to hold off on the destruction, reasoning that they can inspire a mortal man to prove our worth via an act of self-sacrifice.
The man selected for this gambit is Zack Melon (Travolta), a penniless NYC inventor who owes money. To get it he robs a bank, pointing a gun at teller Debbie Wylder (Newton-John), a wannabe actress who gives him a bang-full of paper while she herself makes off with the money he sought to loot. Upon discovering the deception Zack tracks Debbie down and stupidity ensues, with these two mismatched souls somehow finding love while being pursued by loan sharks and God’s major antithesis Beasley (Oliver Reed), who’s seeking to thwart the angels’ plans. It all comes down to a thoroughly contrived showdown involving a gunman turning up in the final minutes so Zack can perform the designated sacrificial act.
I’m not going to pretend this is some kind of misunderstood classic, as the unfirmly negative reviews are largely on the mark, but I do feel the film could have been worthwhile. It certainly has an amazing cast, with Charles Durning, Beatrice Straight, Scatman Crothers, Oliver Reed, Ernie Hudson and Gene Hackman all providing glimpses of real talent. The weak links performance-wise are John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, who fail to establish compelling characters, much less a convincing romantic connection. Unsurprisingly, the film destroyed Newton-John’s big screen acting career, and severely curtailed Travolta’s (it took until 1989’s LOOK WHO’S TALKING for him to regain his footing).
Writer-director John Hertzfeld, whose feature debut TWO OF A KIND was, likewise found himself barred from Hollywood for many years after its release (his long-delayed follow-up being the 1996 indie TWO DAYS IN THE VALLEY). He has some interesting ideas, such as a dramatic utilization of rewind and fast forward VCR functions (long before those things became popular buzzwords) and the placement of the four angel characters in various earthly guises. Admittedly, those things aren’t particularly well executed, contained as they are in a silly romcom framework (with the apocalyptic arc having no gravitas whatsoever) and tied up in a coda that is, again, trite and predictable.
Vital Statistics
TWO OF A KIND
20th Century Fox
Director/Screenplay: John Herzfeld
Producers: Roger M. Rothstein, Joe Wizan
Cinematography: Fred J. Koenekamp
Editing: Jack Hofstra
Cast: John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Charles Durning, Oliver Reed, Beatrice Straight, Scatman Crothers, Richard Bright, Vincent Bufano, Toni Kalem, James Stevens, Ernie Hudson, Jack Kehoe, Bobby Costanzo, Castulo Guerra, Warren Robertson, Deborah Dalton, Gene Hackman