Stars: Sally Field, Tom Hanks, John Goodman, Kim Greist, Paul Mazursky, Taylor Negron, Damon Wayans, Damon Wayans, John Goodman, Paul Mazursky, Mark Rydell

Director: David Seltzer

Summary: A tender, romantic and bittersweet comedy about the backstage world of stand-up comedians, exposing the heartache behind the smiles of the laughter makers.

Lilah Krytsick (Sally Field) is a New Jersey housewife and mother of three who has been told all her life that she is funny. Steven Gold (Tom Hanks) is a failed medical student whose natural comedic talent has allowed him to steal the spotlight at New York comedy club the Gas Station, thus keeping him from focusing on the other failures in his life. Lilah decides to follow her dreams and try her luck on the Gas Station stage, but her act falls flat. When she strikes up a friendship with bitter Steven, he helps her sharpen her comedy while she attempts to help him pull his chaotic life together. This unique comedy/drama features a strong supporting cast including John Goodman, Damon Wayans, and Paul Mazursky.

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At the height of the stand-up comedy boom of the 1980s, Punchlineoffered the revelation that many comedians were, in fact, rather psychologically unstable individuals for whom performing was an outlet for hostility and aggression. Wow--who would have guessed? This film focuses on two who meet and forge an unlikely friendship: Tom Hanks plays a caustic, self-destructive comic looking for his big break and Sally Field plays a more Roseanne-like comedian who begins neglecting her husband (John Goodman) and children because she gets such a kick out of performing. The offstage stuff is strictly soap opera, but Hanks and Field both develop solid comedic rhythms once they get behind a microphone. --Marshall Fine, Amazon.com

Aspect Ratio:	1.85 Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Subtitles:	Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
Year:	1988
Release Date:	June 14, 2004
Runtime:	117 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	C 822 605 6
Keywords:	General, Line, Wide, Screen, Punch, Punchline, Drama
Genre:	Drama