The Dream Team

"This morning they were playing ping-pong in the hospital rec room. Now they're lost in New York and framed for murder. This was never covered in group therapy."

1989 1h 53m EN

😐

6.1

MID

★6.1TMDB · 264

ComedyCrimeThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Four mental patients on a field trip in New York City must save their caring chaperone, who ends up being taken to a hospital in a coma after accidentally witnessing a murder, before the killers can find him and finish the job.

“This morning they were playing ping-pong in the hospital rec room. Now they're lost in New York and framed for murder. This was never covered in group therapy.”

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Cast

Michael Keaton
Billy Caufield
Christopher Lloyd
Henry Sikorsky
Peter Boyle
Jack McDermott
Stephen Furst
Albert Ianuzzi
Dennis Boutsikaris
Dr. Weitzman
Lorraine Bracco
Riley
Milo O'Shea
Dr. Newald
Philip Bosco
O'Malley

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Howard Zieff
Writers: David Loucka, Jon Connolly
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America, Canada

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

37 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United States of America, Canada.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Howard Zieff, shot by Adam Holender. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by David McHugh. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Carroll Timothy O'Meara shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Michael Keaton and Christopher Lloyd and Peter Boyle carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "This morning they were playing ping-pong in the hospital rec room. Now they're lost in New York and framed for murder. This was never covered in group therapy.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0097235 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Howard Zieff directs. Adam Holender behind the camera. David McHugh scores. Carroll Timothy O'Meara cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America, Canada. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

137 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2International production across 2 countries: United States of America, Canada.
3Directed by Howard Zieff, shot by Adam Holender. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by David McHugh. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Carroll Timothy O'Meara shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Michael Keaton and Christopher Lloyd and Peter Boyle carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "This morning they were playing ping-pong in the hospital rec room. Now they're lost in New York and framed for murder. This was never covered in group therapy.".
8IMDB entry: tt0097235 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Adam Holender
Original score: David McHugh
Editing: Carroll Timothy O'Meara
Runtime: 113 min · 1h 53m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $14,000,000
Box office: $28,890,240
Return: 206% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: The Dream Team (1989)

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Howard Zieff

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What people are saying

kevin20192025-03-07
★ 8/10
"The Dream Team" is a very entertaining and well paced comedy throughout until the very end. It gets lots of mileage out of a simple central idea and the idea itself seems to have been inspired by the fishing trip episode in Ken Kesey's "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" and in this instance, as with the 1962 novel, it is an authorised outing fully sanctioned - albeit reluctantly - by the senior staff at the Cedarbrook Psychiatric Hospital. This film could have been nothing more than a shallow comedy featuring an intriguing central idea whose potential is never fully realised or developed upon, so it is refreshing to discover this film doesn't suffer that unfortunate fate and indeed the complete opposite is actually the case.

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