''Feds'' is a 1988 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

written and directed by Dan Goldberg, and starring

Rebecca De Mornay Rebecca De Mornay (born Rebecca Jane Pearch; August 29, 1959) is an American actress and producer. Her breakthrough film role came in 1983, when she starred as Lana in ''Risky Business''. She is known for her role as Debby Huston in the Neil S ...

and

Mary Gross Mary Martha Gross is an American voice actress, comedian, and actress known for her four-year stint on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1981 to 1985. Her credits also include minor roles on ''Animaniacs'', ''Boston Legal'', ''That's So Raven'', ''S ...

. The plot follows two women, the ex-Marine Ellie and Bryn Mawr graduate Janis, who aim to become FBI Agents and enroll at the training center in Quantico. The ending credits stated the real FBI did not support the film or assist the production in any way.

Plot

Ellie DeWitt is a U.S. Marine veteran who wants to become an

FBI Agent The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

. However, while she has great physical skills, she struggles at the academic level. Conversely, her roommate Janis Zuckerman is highly intelligent, but physically very weak. Overcoming the male recruits' assumptions of them, Ellie and Janis team up to help each other through the basic training so they can both become federal agents. During their training, Ellie and Janis must deal with an instructor who seems determined to fail the pair, a fellow trainee who seems more interested in flirting with Ellie (until Ellie asserts her Marine training and pins him against the wall in one exercise), and befriend a geeky co-trainee who seems unable to complete the smallest task. Joining forces, the three tackle the final practice simulation, (badly) forging the instructor's signature ('he sneezed') and breaking into the telephone room to discover the location of the "hostage". They also use their radio to mislead the other agents into a swamp to make sure they do not find the hostage first. The two graduate with honors and in the credits scene, both Ellie and Janis are assigned as partners to the Los Angeles office.

Cast

as Elizabeth 'Ellie' De Witt *

as Janis Zuckerman * Ken Marshall as Brent Shepard *

Fred Dalton Thompson Freddie Dalton Thompson (August 19, 1942 – November 1, 2015) was an American politician, attorney, lobbyist, columnist, actor, and radio personality. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a United States Senator from Tennessee fr ...

as FBI Agent Bill Bilecki *

Larry Cedar Larry Frank Cedar (born March 6, 1955) is an American voice, film and television actor, best known as one of the players of the Children's Television Workshop mathematics show '' Square One TV'' on PBS from 1987 to 1994. He played Max, Alex the ...

as Howard Butz * Raymond Singer as George Hupperman *

James Luisi James A. Luisi (November 2, 1928 – June 7, 2002) was an American professional basketball player and actor. Luisi is perhaps best known for his role as Lt. Doug Chapman, the apoplectic foil to detective Jim Rockford, in a total of 23 episo ...

as FBI Agent Sperry *

Jon Cedar Jon Cedar (January 22, 1931 – April 14, 2011) was an American actor. He appeared in more than sixty television and film roles during his career. Career Cedar began his acting career in high school theater productions at Detroit High School. ...

as FBI Senior Agent * Rex Ryon as Parker * Norman Bernard as Bickerstaff * Bradley Weissman as Graham *

Don Stark Donald Mario Stark (July 5, 1954) is an American actor known for his role as Bob Pinciotti on the Fox Network sitcom ''That '70s Show'' for all eight seasons (19982006) and fictional Los Angeles Devils owner Oscar Kinkade in VH1's '' Hit the F ...

as Willy * David Sherrill as Duane * Michael Chieffo as Louie * Geoffrey Thorne as College Jock #3 * Lee Arnone as Female Marine *

Rick Avery Rick Avery is an American stuntman, stunt coordinator, actor, director and author. He has worked on more than 400 films and television projects, including ''The Crow'', '' The Prestige'', ''The Dark Knight Rises'', '' Gangster Squad'', and ''Amer ...

as Bank Robber #3 *

Tony Longo Tony Longo (August 19, 1961 – June 21, 2015) was an American actor. Longo appeared in numerous television series, including ''Family Matters'', '' The Facts of Life'', ''Laverne & Shirley'', ''Simon & Simon'', ''Alice'', '' Perfect Stranger ...

as Sailor

Production

Dan Goldberg and

Len Blum Len or LEN may refer to: People and fictional characters * Len (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Lén, a character from Irish mythology * Alex Len (born 1993), Ukrainian basketball player * Mr. Len, American hip hop DJ *L ...

, the screenwriters behind '' Meatballs'' and '' Stripes'', originally planned to make a film about "the daffy, goofy sex-crazed guys at the FBI academy." When they couldn't get stars of previous

Ivan Reitman Ivan Reitman (; October 27, 1946February 12, 2022) was a Czechoslovak-born Canadian filmmaker. He was best known for his comedy work, especially in the 1980s and 1990s. He was the owner of The Montecito Picture Company, founded in 1998. Film ...

films like

Bill Murray William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on '' The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on ''Saturday Ni ...

Dan Aykroyd Daniel Edward Aykroyd ( ; born July 1, 1952) is a Canadian actor, comedian, producer, musician and writer. He was an original member of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" on ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1979). During his tenure on ''SNL'' ...

to sign on, the pair switched the story mid-script to a female-focused film. ''Feds'' was made during a cycle of American cop comedies that came out after the box-office success of ''

Police Academy A police academy, also known as a law enforcement training center, police college, or police university, is a training school for police cadets, designed to prepare them for the law enforcement agency they will be joining upon graduation, or ot ...

'' (1984). These films included ''Police Academy'''s

sequels A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the sam ...

, ''

Night Patrol Night (also described as night time, unconventionally spelled as "nite") is the period of ambient darkness from sunset to sunrise during each 24-hour day, when the Sun is below the horizon. The exact time when night begins and ends depends o ...

'' (1984), '' Moving Violations'' (1985), '' Off Beat'' (1986), and '' Hollywood Vice Squad'' (1986).

Critical reception

''Feds'' received mixed reviews from critics. Michael Wilmington of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' wrote, "The stars--De Mornay as the brawn and Gross as the brains--are good enough to make this dopey idea work. But Blum and Goldberg don’t give them much better than the usual parade of elephantine slapstick, grotesque topical humor, sexual innuendo and rock ‘n’ roll sound bites." Rita Kempley of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'' wrote negatively of the film and said De Mornay and Gross are "playing badly written, weirdly reactionary parts." '' Time Out'' said, "director Goldberg seems uncertain whether he should be aiming for slapstick or an earnest docu-drama about sexism in the FBI."

Andi Zeisler Andi Zeisler (born c. 1972, New York) is a writer and co-founder of ''Bitch Media'', a nonprofit feminist media organization based in Portland, Oregon. Biography In 1994, Zeisler graduated from the Colorado College with a BA in fine art. After ...

of ''

Bitch Bitch may refer to: * A female dog or other canine * Bitch (slang), a vulgar slur for a human female Bitch or bitches may also refer to: Arts and media Film and television * ''The Bitch'' (film), a 1979 film starring Joan Collins * ''Bit ...

'' magazine pointed out ''Feds'' was the first female buddy cop movie when critics, writing of the 2013 comedy film '' The Heat'', mistakenly referred to it as the first-ever film about female buddy cops.

Home media

''Feds'' was released on DVD by Warner Bros. on July 7, 2010.

References

External links

* *
Feds
' at AllMovie * {{DEFAULTSORT:Feds 1988 films 1988 comedy films American comedy films Films about the Federal Bureau of Investigation Warner Bros. films Films scored by Randy Edelman 1988 directorial debut films 1980s police comedy films 1980s buddy cop films American buddy cop films 1980s female buddy films Girls with guns films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films