The Hobo From The Soloist
Played By: Jamie Foxx
Funny How: Schizophrenic former cello prodigy Nathanial Ayers is one kooky dude, from his dress sense to the fact he believes he's playing music for angels.
Playing full concertos from memory on the streets of LA, with only two strings to work on, it turns out he actually sees music. That’s right, he sees it in colours, like a kalidoscope.
Hobo Wisdom: Asked by Steve Lopez (Downey Jr) why he has a picture of Neil Diamond on the wall; “I thought it was you”
The Hobo From Life Stinks
Played By: Mel Brooks
Funny How: For a bet, rich businessman Goddard Bolt bets rival Cresswell that he can survive 30 days in a run down slum. If he wins he can develop the slum for next to nothing. If Cresswell wins, he gets to develop the area.
Bolt, nicknamed Pepto, discovers a different side of himself and even falls in love.
Hobo Wisdom: “There's an enormous difference between us. Even though in your twisted mind, you think you're rich, you're really not. On the other hand, because of my serious understanding of the world of finance, I have amassed six point four billion dollars.”
The Hobo From Trading Places
Played By: Eddie Murphy
Funny How: Wise-cracking, scam dealing con artist Billy Ray Valentine excels in the business world when given a chance by the scheming Duke Brothers.
Realising he's set to be left ruined and penniless along with Louis Winthorpe III (Dan Ackroyd), the pair plot the demise of real crooks the Dukes in a finale you’ll have to get Wall Street to explain.
Hobo Wisdom: “When I was growing up, if we wanted a Jacuzzi, we had to fart in the tub.”
The Hobos From Coming To America
Played By: Don Ameche, Ralph Bellamy
Funny How: Randolph and Mortimer are the Duke brothers from the film Trading Places, also starring Eddie Murphy, also directed by John Landis.
Left bankrupt at the end of that film, they are reduced to homeless transients here, until Murphy’s character Akeem donates a sizable chunk of pocket change in passing - though they manage not to notice that Akeem looks exactly like Billy Ray Valentine.
Hobo Wisdom: “Mortimer, we’re back in business!”
The Hobo From Home Alone
Played By: Roberts Blossom
Funny How: Kevin’s older brothers Buzz and Rod wind Kevin up about how Old Man Marley murdered his family and keeps his victims in his salt bin, where they turn into mummies.
Deathly afraid of being Marley’s next victim, Kevin avoids him. But after a heart to heart at the local church, Kevin learns he’s just lonely, and the old man turns out to be Kevin’s guardian angel.
Hobo Wisdom: “You can be too old for a lot of things, but you're never too old to be afraid!”
The Hobo From Old School
Played By: Patrick Cranshaw
Funny How: Joseph ‘Blue’ Palasky is the oldest pledge of the fraternity set up by Mitch, Beanie and Frank. Beanie describes him as “an Old Navy vet who hangs around my store a lot”.
We’re not sure if he’s technically a hobo, but he doesn’t seem to have a lot of places to go, or possessions, or teeth. What we do know is that Blue is awesome and we really wanted him on this list.
Hobo Wisdom: (Asked if he’s okay with wrestling two topless girls in the pool of KY jelly) “Just ring the fucking bell, you pansy.”
The Hobo From Big Daddy
Played By: Steve Buscemi
Funny How: Buscemi’s homeless guy pops up throughout the script in a variety of hilarious cameos. Playing a similar character to his ‘Groom’s Brother’ in The Wedding Singer, here Buscemi again blames his problems on ‘Dad’.
On the hunt for the sausage and egg McMuffin promised to him by Adam Sandler’s Sonny, the homeless guy ends up testifying in the hilarious court room scene.
Hobo Wisdom: “If O.J. can get away with murder, why can't Sonny have his kid? (points at a black man) “This guy knows what I'm talking about! No more questions!”
The Hobo From Drillbit Taylor
Played By: Owen Wilson
Funny How: Low budget bodyguard Drillbit Taylor is about as far from a highly trained specialist as this is from Wilson’s best film (which is The Wedding Crashers , fact fans).
The ever improvising Wilson has moments of hilarity that lift the film out of the abyss... just.
Hobo Wisdom: “You'd be surprised, anything can be turned into a weapon of mayhem or destruction.” (“Even a puppy?”) “Especially a puppy. The Germans used em' in World War I. De Hundin Schtorman, Lightning Dog. They'd attach dynamite to them, Rommel did it, Jerry bastard...”
The Hobo From Lady And The Tramp
Played By: Larry Roberts (Voice)
Funny How: The Tramp is a freewheeling dog about town, belonging to no one in particular, he visits various homes to receive meals, and has various names from each family he visits.
Instructing the well-breed and sheltered Lady in the ways of the world, he shows he sights she’d never seen, and she shows him it wouldn’t be so bad to be a kept dog after all.
Hobo Wisdom: “A human heart has only so much room for love and affection. When a baby moves in, the dog moves out.
The Hobos From The Kid
Played By: Charlie Chaplin, Jackie Coogan
Funny How: Finding a baby in the garbage, Chaplin's Tramp takes pity and makes a place for him in his makeshift shelter, deciding to raise him.
As the years go by, The Tramp and The Kid make money by scamming memebers of the public with their well rehearsed routines, such as the window pane scam. But the Kid's mother is looking for her son, and the Tramp will have a fight on his hands to keep caring for the boy.
Hobo Wisdom: A touching and brilliant mix of comedy and drama, the film speaks for itself.
