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Also this issue: Space Cowboys screenpicks High Crimes National Lampoon's VanWilder |
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April 4-10, 2002
movie shorts
With the exception of the used-up Tim Allen and the mostly-annoying blowhards Johnny Knoxville and Tom Sizemore, everyone in this Big ensemble comedy is welcome. Jason Lee, Janeane Garofalo, Rene Russo, Dennis Farina, Stanley Tucci, Omar Epps, Andy Richter: these are people whose movies I will see just because they are in them. Unfortunately, their presence in a film does not guarantee quality; they’ve all made their share of royal stinkers. In this case, Big Trouble’s title is only partially self-descriptive. There’s no denying the delightful assembled talent, or that the film is so darn eager to please. Based on the novel by Dave Barry, the script is chock full of safe, punchy bits -- the automatic seatbelt that always gets the best of Farina, the omnipresence of Martha Stewart byproducts -- that will elicit laughs even if they’re not exactly breaking comedy boundaries. But this is fundamentally a noisy, complicated farce, and what trouble there is derives directly from its strict adherence to the centuries-old genre. Cupidity, stupidity, misunderstanding and massively parallel coincidences abound, all paced like a chihuahua’s heart attack. Even though the plot points are “now items” like bombs and airplanes and national security, it’s hard not to think that Tartuffe is just off stage left, waiting for his entrance, sniggering. -- Ryan Godfrey (AMC Andorra)
