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| Rat Race |
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  (7/10)
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Runtime: 105 |
| Public Rating: 8.51 (249 votes) |
Director: Jerry Zucker |
MPAA Rating:  |
| Genre: Comedy |
Year: 2001 |
| Writer(s): Andy Breckman |
| Reviewed by: Movieman |
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It's been a long time since a comedy like this has come out. It ranges from funny absurd to hilarious and at worst, lame, but in the end it's worth it.
The film starts out with an opening title sequence that is reminiscent of Monty Python, for which today's audience would find it dumb and might even walk out fearing the rest of the movie will be the same- don't do it, you'll regret it for the rest of your life (maybe a little over the top, but why not just stick around?).
I will breakdown the characters as they are introduced in the hotel casino in Las Vegas:
Nick Shaffer (Meyer), an assistant lawyer who sticks to the law and doesn't dare cross thinking it might come back at him when he runs for attorney general.
Vera Baker (Goldberg) is meeting her daughter, Merrill (Chapman), for the first time. These two were basically there to be tormented by their surroundings rather than actual comedic lines.
Then there's the Pear family headed by Randy (Lovitz), who are all there to see a family friend and David Copperfield. I would have to say that Lovitz was the funniest of the group providing hilarious sight gags that bring back memories of "Seinfeld".
Duane (Green) and Blaine (Vieluf) Cody, two bumbling brothers in the hotel trying to create a lawsuit by having Blaine slip on a glass and then falling down the stairs, but to have it botched when someone else takes the fall.
Owen Templeton (Gooding Jr.), a disgraced football referee who blew a coin toss, takes the brunt of punishment being recognized all over the place and is blamed for losing thousands of dollars because of his bad call.
And finally Enrico Polini (Atkinson), a foreigner with an accent that you barely recognize. Atkinson is very well suited for the role and basically just turns his Mr. Bean character into Mr. Polini. This, next to Lovitz's character, was extremely funny.
Each of these characters play a slot machine and receive a gold coin that gets them to a special meeting with the hotel's owner, Donald Sinclair (Cleese). Sinclair tells them that there is a locker in a small town in New Mexico with a duffle bag filled with $2 million dollars in cash. Of course there's a catch. You see, Sinclair loves doing some odd wagering games, from which maid will hang on the longest to a curtain railing to the subject of the film. He has brought in some big time money players who have each placed a wager on who would get to the money first.
The premise is very funny and most of the characters were cast very well. The exception might be for Cuba Gooding Jr. because his particular segment was not as solid (in a comedic way) as the others.
Just to be on the safe side, the creators brought in some good talent in the supporting characters category including Wayne Knight as a medical van driver, Kathy Bates the "Squirel Lady" and even Superman Dean Kain as the cheating boyfriend of a helicopter pilot (Smart). All of them do a fine job and at times save a scene.
Jerry Zucker, known for his spoof film Airplane! and being the producer of The Naked Gun movies, comes back into form with Rat Race. With the help of screenwriter and SNL writer alum Breckman, they churn out several segments from an episode of Saturday Night Live where some work and others that are just stupid.
Rat Race does have some dumb moments (mainly with Gooding's part with the Lucy bus) but these parts can be overlooked thanks to several hilarious sight jokes involving Lovitz in one of the segments and Atkinson in another- two gifted comedic actors that might have saved the film.
Overall, I believe the acting, as far as a comedy goes, was great. The writing, although at times stupid counteracts it with the funniest stuff I've seen this year (I know I said this for AP 2, but I saw that movie before this one, so. . .). Anyways, Rat Race is worth your time and money as long as you have a sense of humor and take it at face value and not evaluate it as a film the Oscar voters will one day be voting on.
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