# The Linguini Incident

The Linguini Incident (also released on home video as Houdini and Company, The Robbery, Shag-O-Rama) is a 1991 American crime comedy film set in New York starring Rosanna Arquette and David Bowie. The film was directed by Richard Shepard, who co-wrote the script with Tamar Brott. The title refers to linguini, a type of pasta.

## Plot

A British bartender, Monte (David Bowie), hopes to marry a waitress at the upscale restaurant where he works, ostensibly so he can obtain his green card and become an American citizen. In several scenes Monte alludes to likely being killed if he returns to his native country, but he provides no details about why he has allegedly been targeted.
Waitress and aspiring escape artist, Lucy (Rosanna Arquette), who is fixated on the legacy of Harry Houdini, and her friend, lingerie designer Vivian (Eszter Balint), conspire to rob Monte's and Lucy's employer in order to fund their ambitions. Monte agrees to help the duo rob the restaurant in exchange for Lucy agreeing to marriage.
While the robbery does not go precisely according to plan, the trio are successful. However, Lucy later inadvertently forgets to meet Monte at the marriage registrar, causing him to lose a two million dollar bet with the restaurant owners that he could marry a waitress in a week. In a double or nothing scenario, Monte wagers Lucy's skills as an escape artist. He tricks the women into playing along, claiming that the bosses have uncovered the robbery. The women appear to forgive Monte for lying about the circumstances of the escape performance. The two women rob the restaurant a second time. The relationship of the women and Monte remains ambiguous in the end, although there are hints of chemistry between Monte and Lucy.

## Cast

* David Bowie as Monte
* Rosanna Arquette as Lucy
* Marlee Matlin as Jeanette
* Eszter Balint as Vivian
* Buck Henry as Cecil
* Viveca Lindfors as Miracle
* Andre Gregory as Dante
* Kathy Kinney as Denise
* Maura Tierney as Cecelia
* James Avery as Phil
* Al Berry as Bread Man
Iman and Julian Lennon have cameos.

## Production

The movie was shot in late 1990, after Bowie had completed his Sound+Vision Tour. It was co-funded by Bowie's own production company, Isolar.

## Release

Different edits of the film were shown internationally under the titles The Linguini Incident, Houdini & Company, The Robbery, The Incident, and Shag-O-Rama. An assembly cut was released in Europe and Asia while a cut by the producers was released in the United States and Canada.

## Critical response

In Los Angeles, where the Los Angeles Times had called the film "an off the wall treat", there was a curfew so box office was obviously disappointing despite the fact that The New York Times called the film a "cheerfully bizarre comedy". It was released on VHS in 1992, and again in January 2000 on DVD with the name Shag-O-Rama, The Robbery, and Houdini and Company. While reviews were mixed, many critics praised the film for its humor and avant-garde surrealism. Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote that the film "trumpets its eccentricity with its title and casting, as well as in every other way it can". Similarly, Los Angeles Times staff writer Kevin Thomas called the film "a rarity, a contemporary screwball comedy that actually works". In contrast, Empire magazine gave the movie 1 star out of 5, calling it "an unbearably protracted dud", while TV Guide gave the movie 2 stars out of 5. Variety magazine called the movie an "uninspired, poverty row production" and lamented the miscasting of Bowie in the lead role. Bowie biographer Nicholas Pegg called the movie "harmless but negligible", with a "misconceived script and turgid direction."

## Legacy

Since its initial release, the film has garnered a cult following of fans who have come to appreciate its bizarre humor, surreal tone, and relative obscurity. On October 4, 2022, Collider called it "a hidden gem in Bowie's filmography" and "the best kind of cinematic comfort food". In March 2020, film reviewer Virginie Pronovost wrote "it keeps you entertained from the beginning until the end with its humour, its peripeties and the overall aura of excitement". Affirming fan appreciation for the film's obscurity, one 2013 review from Mutant Reviewers says "here on my Island of Misfit Movies, The Linguini Incident lives on in a special place of honor".
In 2021, Shepard was approached to make a director's cut of the film for a Blu-ray release. The rights to the film were initially held by Academy Entertainment, but it went bankrupt and sold its film library to another company that went bankrupt. The Linguini Incident was one of several films whose copyright was claimed by the Screen Actors Guild. Shepard had to find a print and faced difficulties as SAG did not have any and both the European distributor and processing lab went bankrupt. Shepard was able to find a 35 mm print of the film in 2022 through a Zurich art theater. On August 8, 2023, Shepard announced on his Twitter account that he had recovered the rights to the film and remastered it in 4K with a director's cut. The recut premiered at Vidiots on May 9, 2024 and the BluRay release is scheduled for 2024.