Our Lives (1985 film)

Our Lives is a 1985 American alternate universe black comedy drama film written by and  and directed by Bill the Genius and Joanna Cipher, depicting a parallel universe where animation and video games do not exist. The film focuses on the lives of the Stevens family, a blended and sometimes dysfunctional family from the city of Los Angeles.

Produced by in association with, the film was released in the United States by  on April 27, 1985. While the film was critically panned on its initial release, it went on to become a box-office success, earning $325.6 million worldwide against a budget of $20 million. It has the distinction of being the first American film released by Disney to receive an R rating by the. It was the highest-grossing film from until it was surpassed by  in 1988.

In 2016, Our Lives was selected for the United States by the  as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Plot
The film's main setting is a parallel universe where animation (or cartoons) and video games do not exist, neither do holidays and celebrations such as, , , , , , , and.

Our Lives begins with George Stevens being awoken from stasis by the mysterious Government Man, who reveals that the non-existence of cartoons, video games and holidays attracted the attention of a multidimensional empire called the Terror Intelligence Agency, which conquered Earth in ten hours. The Government Man then inserts George into an airplane arriving at Los Angeles, reuniting with his family, consisting of his wife Elizabeth, his son Robert and his daughter Jenny. Robert and Jenny are study math and take auto shop classes respectively, but constantly tend to get bored overtime because of the non-existence of cartoons, video games and holidays, which causes a strain in the family because of George and Elizabeth's lack of productivity skills like making treehouses.

On February 14, Elizabeth and Jenny argue over whether Jenny can have a male friend stay the night. George retreats out to the pool with a drink and listens to music, only to be interrupted by his old friend Cedric Townsend.

Cedric and George chat, where Cedric is interested in learning from George's criminal experience, but George claims that he's retired and encourages Cedric to go to college so he can "rip off people and get paid to do it." Still, George takes an interest in Cedric and offers to buy him a beer at a nearby bar that George likes. The two head for Elizabeth's to drive there, but are interrupted when George gets a call from his son, Robert, who informs George that he tried to sell his yacht without his permission. The buyers stole the boat instead, leaving Robert to cower and hide in the boat's head (bathroom) as the thieves drive it on a trailer down.

George takes the wheel of the Buick LeSabre and heads to Malibu. Along the way, George states that while he's retired, if Cedric sufficiently impresses him on this outing, George might teach him a thing or two. They reach the and they spot George's yacht flying by, pulled by a Peterbilt 359. The two give chase as the thieves follow the Santa Monica Freeway.

To save Robert, Cedric climbs onto the car's hood, jumps onto the yacht, and deals with the goons on the stern before retrieving Robert. However, Robert gets hit by the boat's boom when it swings outward and ends up dangling over the freeway while clinging to the boom for dear life. George pulls up close enough in time for Robert to drop into the back of the Buick LeSabre. George then gets near enough to the rear of the yacht so that Cedric can jump safely onto the hood.

With Cedric back in the car George wants to continue pursuing the thieves, but the engine of the Buick LeSabre begins to break down, due to a goon having shot it earlier while grappling with Cedric. Left unable to keep up the pursuit, the goons get away, leaving George crestfallen. On Cedric's recommendation, the three drive to the nearby, fictional Los Angeles Customs, and George has Cedric call him a taxi to meet them there; over Robert's protest, he asks Cedric to take care of the Buick LeSabre and get Robert home so George can have some alone time to "headbutt the road in peace." George then gives Cedric the cash he has on him for the repairs and takes the cab home while Cedric and Robert get the Buick LeSabre fixed. Following that, Cedric drives Robert home and the two agree to hang out sometime.

On March 17, at his mansion in, George eats from a bowl of potato chips while trying to watch a movie when his son Robert begins making too much noise upstairs. After trying to turn his TV up, George soon runs up to Robert's room and tells him to keep it down. After being told rather rudely to go away, George grabs one of Robert's chairs and smashes his boombox. The two yell at each other, until George finally relents and states that he just wants to spend time with his son. Robert reluctantly agrees to go with his dad.

The two drive to Venice Beach where they rent bicycles at Venice Beach Rentals and race to Pleasure Pier. There the two chat, which again turns into an argument. To distract his father, Robert tells George that Jenny also causes trouble; in fact, at the very moment, she is on a boat with famous people, trying to get on TV. George takes off his shirt and shoes, jumps off the pier and swims to the boat. Upon getting to the boat, he sees Jenny dancing with various men. George confronts his daughter and the men she is with, eventually throwing a stereo into the ocean and tells his daughter to come with him. They steal a Yamaha Waverunner and speed off, but the boat's owner, Frank Craig, and some of his friends chase after George and Jenny and try to shoot them. After losing or killing their pursuers, Jenny and George land the Yamaha Waverunner near where George left Robert. Jenny starts to attack George, but he defends himself by blaming their father. They both soon leave in a taxi and George stays to smoke.

On April 9, back at the Stevens household, George is making himself a drink and finds a marijuana bag belonging to Robert in the fridge. At that point, Elizabeth enters and, believing the drugs to be George's, begins arguing with George about the state of their family. Théodore de Saint-Pierre appears to greet Elizabeth, before Robert appears looking for his drugs. George confronts Robert, which leads to another argument. The tension is broken by the arrival of Jordan Bailey, which shocks everyone, especially George, who believed Jordan to be dead.

Cast

 * as George Stevens
 * as Elizabeth Stevens
 * as Robert Stevens
 * as Jennifer "Jenny" Stevens
 * as Cedric Townsend
 * as Jordan Bailey
 * as Théodore de Saint-Pierre
 * as the Government Man
 * Crispin Valenzuela as Frank Craig