Rating: 
Summary: Excellent!
Review: People dump on this movie because a) they compare it to the brilliant BBC TV mini series, and b) at the time he did this, Steve Martin was associated with the "wild and crazy guy" image and this movie really threw his fan base. BUT IT'S GREAT! If you don't have the time to sit through the 8 BBC hour mini series, this is a quick fix with some added Hollywood gloss. Christopher Walken's tap dance on top of the bar and Bernadette Peters' Ina Rae Hutton turn in the classroom are highlights, as well as the Busby Berkeley-style number with the bank manager and, of course, the Pennies From Heaven diner scene. But it's ALL good. It moves very quickly and the anamorphic picture and sound quality is fine. Interesting commentary from a film historian is included and there is also a cheaply done 20-year reunion featurette. One of the two essential Steve Martin dvds to own... the other is 'Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid.' 'Pennies From Heaven' is dark, funny and very cool. Both films are a mixture of CLASSIC and QUIRKY and not MAINSTREAM. They both stand up to repeated viewings, especially "Pennies..."
Rating:
Summary: "Pennies", Masterpiece
Review: People say this movie is unmoral and has no goodness, but can I just tell you that I cryed when I saw this. I love Peters and think the odd back-drop was a nice change. I think sometimes we need a little hatered. Lets not fool ourselves, no one is perfect. And for those who like fun and musical dance numbers, you must see this movie. It is so touching. It has every emotion in my body put into one fabulouse movie!
Rating:
Summary: The diversity of opinion about this film...
Review: should be an indication of something very special. For those expecting a happy, upbeat film reflecting the moony-spoony lyrics of the tin-pan alley song of the same name will be sorely disappointed. For those who love originality and can imagine the possibility of a singing/tap-dancing depression-era musical drama about seriously flawed people, each needing love which, even during the Great Depression, is harder to find than money... Well, maybe you get the picture.But probably not. This film is almost impossible to describe but contains Steve Martin tapdancing through a fabulouly produced Busby Berkeley number, an amazing barroom tap dance dance number by Christopher Walken (yes, that Christopher Walken) and the title song interpreted by New Orleans performer Vernel Bagneris - a surreal elastic-body number in which it actually rains gold coins outside a seedy diner. The scene where teacher Bernadette Peters' first- grade classroom erupts into song and magically re- appear in tiny sequened tuxedos to tap dance on top their tiny desks is as surreal as it is refreshingly unexpected, like everything in this movie. This film is brilliant. It's a thinking person's gem which juxtaposes the real world of The Great Depression with those happy-go-lucky songs of the same era that somehow helped people forget how bad things really were. This movie joyously, mischeivously, and darkly unites them. It's an amazing and truly original film. Don't miss it. .
Rating:
Summary: Delightful Piece of Nostalgia
Review: Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters are wonderful in this make-believe 1930s Song & Dance setting. Authentic period songs (especially the title tune) add to the 1930s atmosphere. Costumes as well as big budget song & dance productions are top notch. This is 5-Star Hollywood Glamour/Escapism.*****
Rating: 
Summary: they tell the truth, songs do....
Review: Steve Martin, in an interesting choice with which to follow The Jerk, give an excellent performance as a salesman who falls victim to the romanticized visions of life offered in the lyrics of the sheet music he sells. The real world is continually juxtaposed against the world of song-the place that Martin's character wants to live. "They tell the truth, songs do," he says. He believes each time he meets a beautiful woman that she will be the one promised by storybooks and songs and lives for a short time in the light of that romanticized take, but then descends into reality. In that way, he plays a kind of everyman. It is a heavy film in which almost every scene has a genuine core of sadness to it Von Trier is trying to do something similar in Dancer in the Dark, but is too interested in offering a distorted critical view of an America he doesn't understands save through stereotype and rumor.
Rating: 
Summary: A Travesty of a Masterpiece
Review: The original 6 hour television series of Pennies from Heaven was a work of genius. Unfortunately Potter allowed the script to go to Hollywood - the result is an excrutiatingly bad production. The original starred Bob Hoskins giving a superb performance. The film sees Steve Martin give the worst performance of his career - he is excrutiatingly bad, with no appreciation of the character he is playing. This film is Hollywood tripe - its only saving grace being the script. The only reason I gave this film two stars is because it has the remnants of Potter's original script. Unfortunately, with two thirds of the script missing, it is but a semi-coherent caricature of the original. The film would not be so objectionable if the original 6 hour series had been allowed to survive. Unfortunately, it appears that Hollywood struck a deal, whereby the original would be removed from the public domain. No doubt this was because the producers realised that, by allowing the two versions to be directly compared, thier effort would be revealed as the turkey that it was. These guys even changed the ending to make it "happy"! Do yourself a favour - boycott this film and demand that the original be re-released. Pennies from Heaven (the movie) is no more than an exercise in artistic vandalism, which resulted in the suppression of the original 6 hour series which was a Dennis Potter masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Something's Missing !
Review: The original BBC performance was a masterpiece ... very clever and the original 30's music nicely balanced a rather dreary but effective screenplay. Hollywood produced a 90 minute substitute (in name only.) Don't buy it ... but grab the original Bob Hoskins BBC original if it ever lands on our shores!
Rating:
Summary: Vernel Bagneris' dance number has haunted me for years
Review: The title piece done by Vernel Bagneris has stayed with me since I saw this movie in the theater years ago. I just watched the movie again, and that wonderful and amazing dance in the rain, Christopher Walken's strip tease (who knew he was a fabulous song-and-dance man?), the classroom production number, and the wonderful cinematography all had me rewinding and watching things over again. This movie is tailor-made for someone who likes quirky musicals starring Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters with a supporting cast of great talent. What's not to love?
Rating:
Summary: disturbing comments from previous reviews
Review: The woman below stated that every copy of this film should be burned. It is attitudes like that that make me lose sleep. This advocacy of censorship is exactly what has made films like Pennies from Heaven necessary. Cynical, painful, and truthful social satire and commentary. For those of you who are open-minded and not so reactionary, please see this innovative and insightful piece of art. The writer, Dennis Potter, is also the writer of The Singing Detective, which is a BBC mini-series (available here on Amazon) and widely considered the greatest thing ever to appear on television. So I think Mr. Potter's work is better viewed than burned thank you very much. Let's not trample on the rights of people to express their views.
Rating:
Summary: A rare and unusual treat: a musical shrouded in darkness
Review: This is a film for thinking people who love movies and aren't afraid to try something very different. The fact that this picture was made was a miracle in itself as it is almost unrelentingly grim, melancholy and dark, but so gorgeously shot, well-acted, and hauntingly scored that many will find quite a measure of joy in watching this film. The brilliant musical numbers (performed to perfection by the cast) are up to the standards of the Gingers/Rogers films of old, yet are so contrary to them thematically. Instead of the standard feel-good joi de vivre, they serve here instead to atually underscore the tragedy of the characters lives and demonstrate just how far away they are from the joyous visions the songs describe. So, if you're looking for a happy-go-lucky lightweight return to the MGM of the past, this likely isn't the picture for you. On the other hand, if you want a stunning homage to the musicals of the 30's, but one which does not sacrifice artful storytelling and an almost picture-quality reproduction of the grief, sorrow and anger of the Depression-era 30's, this is the pinnacle of filmmaking (and with sumptious musical numbers to back it).
IMO, this is hands down Steve Martin's best role and as well as Bernadette Peters (who should have been won the Academy that year). Both are incredible, as is Christopher Walken and Jessica Harper. As the main protagonist of the film, it is a rare distinction for Martin (as well as for this genre film) that he is not really a nice guy -- yet nor is he a true villain. There are sympathetic qualities to his character, but also irremedially selfish, childish ones. One of the great elements of this film is that all of the characters are fully three-dimensional and you don't really know where these characters are going to go or what decisions they're going to make. Behind the stylization, cinematography and dance numbers lies subtle artistic, poetic and psychological underpinnings wherein lie real people and their tragedies and the sorrow they bring upon themselves. Martin plays the frustrated husband who begins an affair with an innocent schoolteacher, destroying all of their lives, including his own, in the process. Make no mistake, this is a dark film which deals powerfully with themes of yearning and lost innocence, and which is fueled by an almost sexual rage. Sexual anger permeates nearly all of the musical numbers in ways that are surprising and original, yet almost always sad. Sex represents the catalyst for doom and evil in this film. There is hypnotizing -- almost trance-like -- and surreal quality to the way this film is shot, and the mood is pervasive and not one a mature film-lover is likely to forget right away...
As far as the DVD transfer is concerned: I'm very glad that it's in anamorphic widescreen as it should be. The color palette is deep and rich, and although there is some artifacting and pixellation, it is hardly distracting. A major treat is the commentary track by film critic Peter Rainer, a man who really understands the brilliance of this movie and its underlying themes. There is also a 20th Anniversary Cast and Crew Reunion (which unfortunately lacks Peters and Walken). The one sore spot of this disk is that it's missing deleted scenes, which is inexusable IMO, especially as one of crew discusses some beautiful scenes he was upset to cut out for the sake of pacing. Let's hope we get a Special Edition sometime in the near future.
Another musical didn't emerge again until Moulin Rouge and Chicago, both of which received great accolades. Without disprect to those, Pennies from Heaven is a far superior film in many ways: Uncompromising and artful, with touches of noir and mystery; at times a strange ride, and profoundly sorrowful, this is one of those rare classics that has not been seen by enough people.
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