Punchline

Punchline (1988)

Timing: 2:3 (123 min)

5.379/10
124

6.706/10
1113

5.9/10
9800

All about film

Video 1

Photo 5

Actors and characters

Release date

1988-10-07

Country

United States

Production

Columbia Pictures

Genre

Comedy, Drama

Budget

$15 000 000

Revenue

$21 042 667

Website

Director

David Seltzer

Actors

Sally Field, Tom Hanks, John Goodman, Mark Rydell, Kim Greist, Paul Mazursky, Damon Wayans, Taylor Negron, Pam Matteson, George McGrath
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

David Seltzer

Producer

Daniel Melnick, Michael I. Rachmil

Operator

Reynaldo Villalobos

Composer

Artist

Audition

Jackie Burch

Editing

Bruce Green
All team (15)

• To prepare for their roles, Tom Hanks and Sally Field practiced performing in comedy clubs. Stand-up comedian Susie Essman and comedy writer Dottie Archibald trained Field for the role. Archibald also worked as a consultant on the project, inviting various stand-up comedians to participate in the filming. Barry Sobel, a comedian, and Randy Fecter, a comedy writer, helped Hanks. During rehearsals, a then-up-and-coming comedian, Chris Rock, shared the stage with Hanks. And Sally Field performed alongside Adam Sandler.
• Originally, in 1979, David Zelzer wrote a screenplay based on his experience visiting comedy clubs. Howard Zieff was then attached to direct the project. When Zieff left the project, work on it was suspended. In 1986, Daniel Melnick stumbled upon the script in the Columbia Pictures studio archives and wanted to revive the project. Initially, it was planned as a low-budget film without well-known actors, but then the studio sent the script to Sally Field. When she agreed to star in and produce the film, the budget increased, and Tom Hanks was cast in the lead role.