In 1989, Larry David went from being a stand-up comedian and former writer on Saturday Night Live to the co-creator of a little sitcom named Seinfeld, which he formed with another stand-up, Jerry Seinfeld. The series might have been fiction, but it was based on Jerry and Larry’s life, with George Costanza (Jason Alexander) being the stand-in for David, and many characters and stories coming straight from his own reality. As Seinfeld became the most popular show on TV, Larry David was a household name, but at the height of his success, he left the show behind to make a movie called Sour Grapes. It ended up being the biggest failure of his career.
‘Sour Grapes’ Was a Box Office Dud
Larry David was not just the co-creator of Seinfeld, but he was also the showrunner, the writer of many of its episodes, and even had cameo acting roles. However, in Season 7, Larry David said goodbye right when Seinfeld was at the peak of its popularity. So what happened? Did David not get along with someone? Was there infighting with NBC? The answer was rather non-controversial. David simply was ready to do something else creatively.
What he chose to do was write and direct his own feature film. What he came up with was the movie Sour Grapes starring Steven Weber, who was coming off of another NBC series, Wings, and Craig Bierko, best known for The Long Kiss Goodnight. Sour Grapes was a comedy, but what wasn’t funny for David and everyone involved was just how little impact it had. The 90s king of comedy had his first film released on April 17, 1998, just a month before Seinfeld‘s series finale. It came out in only 28 theaters and made a meager $123,000, which was a pretty big fall for the man who had ruled television.
Roger Ebert Was Highly Critical of ‘Sour Grapes’
In Sour Grapes, cousins Evan (Weber) and Richie (Bierko) Maxwell go to an Atlantic City casino to play the slot machines. With Richie running out of quarters, he asks Evan for more, and then promptly wins a half million dollars. This leads to the cousins fighting over how much money each should get. On the surface, it feels like a Seinfeld or Curb Your Enthusiasm episode, but the idea didn’t turn into a good film. Rather than being smart like those two series, Sour Grapes was filled with weak sex jokes and horrid stereotypes that one would expect from a lesser filmmaker. If Larry David’s name wasn’t attached, and he didn’t show up in cameos as three different characters, you would never have thought it was his movie.
The harshest criticism, unfortunately, came from the most famous film critic in Hollywood, Roger Ebert. He didn’t hold back in his written review, eviscerating David for turning cancer and racial stereotypes into comedy, and calling it all tone-deaf. Ebert argued that Sour Grapes could have been a lighter comedy if the actors weren’t so glum in their performances. He actually wrote the words, “I can’t easily remember a film I’ve enjoyed less.” Yikes.
The Stars of ‘Sour Grapes’ Were Hurt by Larry David’s Mockery
Sour Grapes was so bad that Larry David never tried to make a movie again, but he recovered just fine. A year later, Curb Your Enthusiasm premiered on HBO, and a quarter of a century and twelve seasons later, it said goodbye as one of the best television comedies of all time. David even made fun of Sour Grapes several times on the series, showing that he knew the film was a stinker. Early on, a poster from Sour Grapes is seen hanging in his office before he asks to have it removed, not wanting to be reminded of it. Another episode has his wife, Cheryl (Cheryl Hines), wanting to show Sour Grapes to her friends, with Larry begging her not to. The funniest nod of all goes to a Season 3 episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm in 2002. In it, Larry is opening his own restaurant when he accidentally injures a food critic named Portico (Paul Willson), who looks very similar to Roger Ebert. Portico gives thumbs up and thumbs down in his reviews, just like Ebert, when David breaks the poor guy’s thumbs with a dodgeball.
Roger Ebert laughed it off, saying in a Movie Answer Man Q & A, “Larry David may have been aiming at critics in general, not at me, since Sour Grapes scored a perfect zero among major critics on the Tomatometer. There is a reason for that. Sour Grapes was a terrible movie. Curb Your Enthusiasm, on the other hand, is a wonderful TV show.” Who didn’t laugh were the actual stars of Sour Grapes. Steven Weber told Cracked, “When Sour Grapes became a punchline on Curb, that was a bit of a blow to me. It hurt me a little bit.” If you’re a fan of Larry David, and you’ve never Sour Grapes, check it out. Is it a good movie? Not really. But it is Larry David being brave and going out of his comfort zone by refusing to take the easy path and give everyone a Seinfeld clone.
Sour Grapes
- Release Date
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April 17, 1998
- Runtime
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91 minutes
- Producers
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Barry M. Berg
Cast
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Craig Bierko
Richie Maxwell
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Matt Keeslar
Danny Pepper
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