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 Hey,
Hollywood! Got milk?
Of course
you do! And why not? After all, just 12 months ago in "Me, Myself
& Irene," a cow miraculously survived a few bullets to the head,
and now in "Rat Race," a cow takes to the air after getting its
hoof caught in the rope of a balloon. In that sense, it's rather
appropriate that the filmmakers of both movies have a lot in common,
and if mean-spirited comedies are your cup of milk, then the silly,
sometimes hilarious, and wildly uneven "Rat Race" is for you. Otherwise,
I suggest you moooove on!
For six groups
of lovable losers in Las Vegas, a fortune could come as easy as
a road trip from the city of sin to the small town of Silver Springs,
NM. That's where Donald Sinclair (John Cleese), a filthy rich casino
owner, sends them on a race where the winner will receive $2 million
in cash. There's Owen Templeton (Cuba Gooding, Jr.), a humiliated
NFL referee, Vera (Whoopi Goldberg) and Merrill (Lanai Chapman),
a recently reunited mother and daughter, Mr. Pollini (Rowan Atkinson),
a bumbling Italian tourist, Randy Pear (Jon Lovitz), a frustrated
father in the middle of a family vacation, Duane (Seth Greene) and
Blaine Cody (Vince Vieluf), two criminally minded misfits, and Nick
Shaffer (Breckin Meyer), a cynical lawyer-in-training. Despite their
initial reluctance, they're off and running, but during their adventure,
they learn the hard way that all is fair in love and war…and money.
Try to imagine
what would happen if "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," "The Gumball
Rally," and "The Cannonball Run" were directed by the Farrelly brothers,
and there you have "Rat Race." The winner-takes-all mentality is
the same, but this time around, it's filled with the type of gross-out
humor that the Farrellys made famous. It makes perfect sense, since
"Rat Race" director Jerry Zucker was one of the men responsible
for wacky screwball comedies like "Airplane!" and "The Naked Gun,"
which surely must have inspired the Farrellys. Unfortunately, instead
of once again setting the standard, Zucker merely seems content
to follow the trend that the Farrellys and their imitators have
practically run into the ground.
When the film
works, it has to be seen to be believed, particularly when the Pears
escape from a Nazi museum in one of Hitler's cars, only to end up
at a rally for World War II veterans. There's also a scene where
Templeton, desperate to get to New Mexico, commandeers a bus full
of Lucy lookalikes who are on their way to the Third Annual "I Love
Lucy" Convention!
With so many
outrageous antics, it falls to a flexible cast to pull off the "anything
goes" type of humor. The problem is that none of the characters
really stand out, and as the movie jumps back and forth between
the various stories, some of them get lost in the shuffle. That's
the case with Whoopi Goldberg and Lanai Chapman, who despite having
some great chemistry as a mother and daughter meeting for the first
time, have the weakest storyline in the film.
Jon Lovitz
has the most outrageous storyline as the father who can't seem to
get away from his family, while Cuba Gooding, Jr. seems to be having
a blast going over the top with his knack for physical comedy. Seth
Green plays another social misfit (not unlike the one he played
in the "Austin Powers" movies), and the love-him-or-hate-him Rowan
Atkinson ("Mr. Bean") is just downright silly as the narcoleptic
Italian tourist. As always, leave it to John Cleese to save the
day by engaging his clients in some stupid bets while they pass
time to see who will make it to New Mexico first.
After so much
tasteless humor, "Rat Race" ends with a completely contrived and
corny climax that seems out of place with the tone of the rest of
the movie. OK, so what do you expect from a film that makes fun
of Nazi's, mental illness, cows, squirrels, and heart transplants?
The bottom line is this: if tasteless comedy isn't your thing, then
the only race that will suit you is the race to your car when the
movie's over. Otherwise, sit back, relax, laugh your head off, and
feel guilty as hell about it the next morning.
(No cows were
harmed in the preparation of this review!)
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