History Film / AFineMess

* CoversAlwaysLie: Most posters of the movie show an irate Spence holding a gun to a screaming and flailing Dennis(in drag). It was actually just a brief diversionary tactic used to get away from the police and had nothing to do with the plot. It doesn't fool them for a second.

* CoversAlwaysLie: An Irate Spence holding a gun to a screaming and flailing Dennis(in drag) was actually just a brief diversionary tactic used and had nothing to do with the plot. It didn't fool the police for a second.

* LawOfInverseRecoil: Painfully averted in Turnip's case

'''''A Fine Mess''''' is a 1986 comedy film directed by Creator/BlakeEdwards and starring Ted Danson, Howie Mandel, Creator/MariaConchitaAlonso and Paul Sorvino and was released by Creator/ColumbiaPictures. The plot centers around struggling actor Spence Holden (Danson) and frustrated waiter Dennis Powell (Mandel) who stumble upon a horse doping plot and the gangsters involved, turning the movie into an extended chase, leading to them accidentally buying a piano at an auction. Claudia Pazzo (Alonso) offers them $8,000 for it (though they paid $10,000), since she claimed that she had wanted to buy it herself but "this crazy racehorse" caused her to get "held up in traffic." Later that night, Spence calls her up and asks if it would be possible to deliver the piano to her house tomorrow, and that he'd really like to see her again. She says she'll be over in 20 minutes. (See below under NakedInMink.) Unfortunately, she's married to Tony Pazzo (Sorvino), the local mob boss whose idiot flunkies, Maurice 'Binky' Drundza (Stuart Margolin) and Wayne 'Turnip' Parragella (Richard Mulligan), are the ones responsible for doping the horses in the first place. Dennis hates his job as a rollerskating waiter and his boss and wants to open an Indian food restaurant called Gandhi's, which would specialize in curry, although he's never actually ''tried'' it before. He also strikes up a relationship with the lady from the auction, Ellen Frankenthaler (Jennifer Edwards.)

** DistractedByTheSexy: Tony, when Claudia takes off her nightgown in the sauna, where she is hiding Spence and Dennis, and walks out naked. However,

* BikiniBar: There is a scene in a strip club where Binky and Turnip are talking about what happened with Claudia at Spence's apartment and trying to figure out what they should do. The girls are ignored, almost as if the scene could have taken place anywhere.

* ChaseScene: Quite a lot of the movie..

** ClosetShuffle: Claudia tries to hide Spence under her bed and he and Dennis in the sauna

* HorseRacing
* InLoveWithTheGangstersGirl

-> '''PHIL''' (Dennis Franz): "So what? It's a Cadillac."\\
--''A Fine Mess''

--''AFineMess''

* StartMyOwn: We see that Dennis got his [[HappyEnding happy ending]] and he and Ellen have opened an Indian food restaurant called Gandhi's.

** CaughtWithYourPantsDown & ModestyBedsheet: After Binky and Turnip have shown up at his apartment (since their car crashed into Spence's brother-in-law and his sister who were driving TheAllegedCar above and he gave them Spence's address) and burst in on Claudia (wearing a towel on her way out of the bathroom, who then chased them screaming out the door), Spence wrapped the sheets around himself and tried to catch up with her, and called out her name, leading to an example of the RunningGag below.

* SesquipedalianSmith: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] with Ellen Frankenthaler.

* [[UnfortunateNames Unfortunate Name]]: Dennis' boss is named Mr. Wardell Flecken, a shortened version of Fleckenshicker. Dennis asks, "Is that like Shickenflucker?"

* UsefulNotes/LosAngeles. It's announced that the doped horse, Sweet Sue, won the third race at Hollywood Park and the fourth race at Santa Anita. Hollywood Park is in Inglewood and Santa Anita is in Arcadia. Depending on which route you take, this is a 32-34 mile trip that would take 46 minutes. Meaning, the drugs given the horse were so powerful that it was able to win two races in the same day on two different tracks that were 30+ miles apart. Adding to the ArtisticLicense, it's noted that Sweet Sue "ran the last furlong backward, but still [[IncrediblyLamePun won by a tail.]]"

* {{Auction}} and AccidentalBid: Despite Spence's explanation that Dennis was only "smelling his armpit."

* FinGore: No blood, but Binky does get his fingers caught in the door of the car when he and Turnip arrive at Spence's apartment building.

!!A Fine Mess of Tropes:

'''''A Fine Mess''''' is a 1986 comedy film directed by Blake Edwards and starring Ted Danson, Howie Mandel, Creator/MariaConchitaAlonso and Paul Sorvino and was released by Creator/ColumbiaPictures. The plot centers around struggling actor Spence Holden (Danson) and frustrated waiter Dennis Powell (Mandel) who stumble upon a horse doping plot and the gangsters involved, turning the movie into an extended chase, leading to them accidentally buying a piano at an auction. Claudia Pazzo (Alonso) offers them $8,000 for it (though they paid $10,000), since she claimed that she had wanted to buy it herself but "this crazy racehorse" caused her to get "held up in traffic." Later that night, Spence calls her up and asks if it would be possible to deliver the piano to her house tomorrow, and that he'd really like to see her again. She says she'll be over in 20 minutes. (See below under NakedInMink.) Unfortunately, she's married to Tony Pazzo (Sorvino), the local mob boss whose idiot flunkies, Maurice 'Binky' Drundza (Stuart Margolin) and Wayne 'Turnip' Parragella (Richard Mulligan), are the ones responsible for doping the horses in the first place. Dennis hates his job as a rollerskating waiter and his boss and wants to open an Indian food restaurant called Gandhi's, which would specialize in curry, although he's never actually ''tried'' it before. He also strikes up a relationship with the lady from the auction, Ellen Frankenthaler (Jennifer Edwards.)

'''''A Fine Mess''''' is a 1986 comedy film directed by Blake Edwards and starring Ted Danson, Howie Mandel, Creator/MariaConchitaAlonso and Paul Sorvino and released by Creator/ColumbiaPictures. The plot centers around struggling actor Spence Holden (Danson) and frustrated waiter Dennis Powell (Mandel) who stumble upon a horse doping plot and the gangsters involved, turning the movie into an extended chase, leading to them accidentally buying a piano at an auction. Claudia Pazzo (Alonso) offers them $8,000 for it (though they paid $10,000), since she claimed that she had wanted to buy it herself but "this crazy racehorse" caused her to get "held up in traffic." Later that night, Spence calls her up and asks if it would be possible to deliver the piano to her house tomorrow, and that he'd really like to see her again. She says she'll be over in 20 minutes. (See below under NakedInMink.) Unfortunately, she's married to Tony Pazzo (Sorvino), the local mob boss whose idiot flunkies, Maurice 'Binky' Drundza (Stuart Margolin) and Wayne 'Turnip' Parragella (Richard Mulligan), are the ones responsible for doping the horses in the first place. Dennis hates his job as a rollerskating waiter and his boss and wants to open an Indian food restaurant called Gandhi's, which would specialize in curry, although he's never actually ''tried'' it before. He also strikes up a relationship with the lady from the auction, Ellen Frankenthaler (Jennifer Edwards.)

* UsefulNotes/LosAngeles. It's announced that the doped horse, Sweet Sue, won the third race at Hollywood Park and the fourth race at Santa Anita. Hollywood Park is in Inglewood and Santa Anita is in Arcadia. Depending on which route you take, this is a 32-34 mile trip that would take 46 minutes. Meaning, the drugs given the horse were so powerful that it was able to win two races in the same day on two different tracks that were 30+ miles apart. Adding to the ArtisticLicense, it's noted that Sweet Sue "ran the last furlong backward, but still won by a tail."

** ClosetShuffle: Claudia tries to hide Spence and Dennis under her bed and in the sauna

* ShoutOut: The title is taken from Creator/LaurelAndHardy's [[CatchPhrase catchphrase]], "That's another fine mess you've gotten us into," and the piano delivery is a direct reference to ''Film/TheMusicBox''.

* {{Nepotism}}: Ellen is played by director Blake Edwards' daughter

* FakeNationality: A Cuban playing an Italian.

** NippleAndDimed: We see the top of Claudia's breasts and the side of her right breast on top of Spence but nothing more.

[[quoteright:199:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/afinemess_6534.jpg]]

The film's poor box office showing was reinforced when Sorvino and Alonso both appeared on the May 18, 1998 episode of ''Vibe'' to promote separate projects. When Alonso came out for her interview, she rushed over to Sorvino, saying, "My husband, my husband," and [[LampshadeHanging then had to explain why she was saying that]].

!!Tropes include:

* UsefulNotes/LosAngeles. It's announced that the doped horse, Sweet Sue, won the third race at Hollywood Park and the fourth race at Santa Anita.

** DiamondsInTheBuff: Claudia is seen wearing earrings while [[BathtubScene taking a bubble bath and talking with Spence on the phone]], and the earrings and a necklace on top of him in bed.

* UsefulNotes/{{California}}

* DrugsAreBad: The doped racehorse, Sorry Sue, dies from the drugs.