“Life Stinks” is a serious romantic comedy starring, written and directed by Mel Brooks. The movie addresses the issue of homelessness in a rather amusing way. The acting is quite funny although much of the film is rather depressing. Still I think it’s a great film.

Goddard Bolt (Brooks) is the billionaire CEO of Bolt Enterprises in Los Angeles. He is ruthless toward poor people, putting his money and business before their needs. Bolt plans to build Bolt Tower, a billion dollar project, in an LA slum, which would require teasing down the slum and displacing its residents. Meanwhile, Vance Crasswell, another billionaire who owns the slum, also wants to use it to build his own project. Crasswell ends up making a bet with Bolt that if he can live in the ghetto for 30 days without any money or form of identification, he’ll give Bolt the land. Bolt takes Crasswell up on his bet.

Life in the slum proves very difficult and demeaning for Bolt. For two days he is unable to make any money or receive food or shelter. Finally he meets an attractive young homeless woman named Molly who tells him how to get to the mission, where he can get a free meal. There he meets and becomes friends with some other derelicts, including an old man named Sailor and a black man named Fumes. Sailor gives him the nickname Pepto since he slept on a bottle of Pepto Bismol and the word Pepto got rubbed off on his face.

Back in the ghetto, Crasswell shows up with the media and a wrecking crew, planning to destroy the ghetto. Bolt decides to fight him. Bolt operates a fork lift, which he uses to fight off Crasswell. Occasionally he beats Crasswell and forces him to concede the bet. Bolt builds a large, fancy community for the homeless people in the neighborhood and marries Molly.