Rachel Dobbs

Created by Daniel Taplitz

Neophyte NYC P.I. RACHEL DOBBS, visions of Chandler dancing in her head, must put up with her sleazoid boss at the collection agency who won't give her anything more demanding to do than serving summonses and tracing skips. Her luck changes -- although arguably not for the better -- when she crosses paths with Harrison Patrick "Harry" Berg, a flaky goofball performance artist/gambler/inventor who's in more trouble than Rachel or he could ever imagine, in The Squeeze, a barely remembered lightweight 1987 chase flick.

As I recall (I saw it over thirty years ago), actress Rae Dawn Chong mades for an appealing private eye, but it was Michael Keaton who stole the show as Berg.

Almost everyone hates this film, but for some reason I remember it rather fondly. It wasn't great, I admit that, but I thought it was harmless enough, as these things go, and I've always enjoyed Keaton's bug-eyed, tilt-a-whirl taking jags.

I'm almost afraid to see it again, though, after reading some of the comments on it.

UNDER OATH

• "The Squeeze, alas, is all MacGuffin and no movie.... Sometimes they hold sneak previews for movies, and ask the audience to rate the picture on a scale ranging from "excellent" to "poor." I've got an idea for The Squeeze. They should hand the audience postcards and ask them to mail them back a week after seeing the movie - to see if they can recall anything about the plot. I'm serious. This movie isn't about anything or anybody, and to remember it is an act of the will."

-- Roger Ebert

FILMS

• THE SQUEEZE . Buy this video
  (1987, TriStar)
  101 minutes
  Screenplay by Daniel Taplitz
  Directed by Roger Young
  Produced by Rupert Hitzig, Michael Tannen
  Associate producers: James Chory, Gayle Scott
  Executive producers: Harry Colomby, David Shamroy Hamburger
  Starring Rae Dawn Chong as RACHEL DOBBS
  and Michael Keaton as Harrison Patrick Berg
  Also starring Ric Abernathy, Danny Aiello III, John Davidson, Bobby Bass, Leslie Bevis, Lou Criscuolo, Ray Gabriel , George Gerdes, Ronald Guttman, Paul Herman, Richard E. Huhn, John Dennis Johnston, Meat Loaf, Joe Pantoliano

Report respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith. Thanks to Bluefox808 for the lead.