The Money Pit

The Money Pit is a 1986 American comedy film directed by Richard Benjamin and starring Tom Hanks and Shelley Long as a couple who attempt to renovate a recently purchased house.

The next morning, they are told they need to vacate the apartment they are subletting from Anna's ex-husband, Max Beissart, a self-absorbed conductor who has returned early from Europe.

Her sob story and insistence at keeping the place in candlelight in order to save money "for the bloodsucking lawyers" distracts Walter and enchants Anna, who finds it romantic.

The entire front door frame rips out of the wall, the main staircase collapses, the plumbing is full of sewage and the electrical system catches fire.

Contractors Art and Brad Shirk summarily tear the house to pieces using Walter's $5,000 down payment, leaving him and Anna embroiled in bureaucracy to secure the necessary building permits to complete the work.

Meanwhile, Estelle and her husband/partner-in-crime, Carlos – now revealed to be con artists – resurface in Brazil, where they meet with Walter's father and new bride to sell them an old house they claim to have lived in for several years - implying that similar troubles are going happen to them.

In November 2019, the Seattle PI reported that the Long Island house had "finally" sold for around $3.5 million, at a significant loss in relation to renovation costs.

[13] The film was released on DVD by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment in 2003, and later re-released in 2011 as part of a three-film set, the Tom Hanks Comedy Favorites Collection, along with The 'Burbs and Dragnet.