Prime Time: Rat Race (2001)

With Jerry Zucker in the director's chair and a whole load of talented comedic performers in front of the camera, Rat Race certainly sets itself up as a film that wants to be in the top tier of modern comedies. The fact that it isn't, and the fact that it fails by such a large margin, is as surprising as it is disappointing.

The main premise is very simple, and very similar to another whacky comedy from decades ago, one that made use of an all-star cast. A group of people are selected to participate in a race to a locker some distance away. The first person to get there will get to keep the contents of the locker. $2M. It's that simple. Yes, this is basically a reworking of It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.

There are moments that work in Rat Race, and some of those moments provide some hearty laughs. Jon Lovitz and Kathy Najimy bundling their two kids into a car that once belonged to Adolf Hitler pans out pretty much as you think it would, and is a real highlight, and there's a fun cameo from Kathy Bates, playing a woman obsessively trying to get people to buy one of her squirrels. A bus full of Lucille Ball fans also provides some fun. But there are so many other moments that either don't work as well as they should or just don't work entirely. The characters played by Seth Green and Vince Vieluf don't work, and neither do those played by Whoopi Goldberg and Lanei Chapman. Breckin Meyer and Amy Smart are helped by the script, although hindered by the fact that they're, well, Breckin Meyer and Amy Smart (to be fair, Meyer isn't as bad as Smart . . . but few actors are). Cuba Gooding Jr. is just fine, as is Rowan Atkinson, and John Cleese is helped along by super-white, larger, teeth to define his character.

Perhaps hampered by the script from Andy Breckman, Zucker feels like he could have been replaced by anyone in the director's chair. There's no sign of someone monitoring quality control, there's no sign of anyone taking on the responsibility to make the best of every comedy moment. All you get is a star vehicle without any big enough stars, but it's also very much a time capsule from 2001. From the cast to the plotting, despite it hewing so close to that 1963 movie mentioned above, and to the inclusion of Smash Mouth in the finale (not just a song, they get to make a cameo appearance and interact with all of the main players).

While it's not a film I'd recommend to anyone in the mood for a modern comedy, it IS a film I'd recommend to anyone looking for some easy entertainment that keeps throwing enough at the wall that one or two bits should stick. You can find a multitude of better comedies out there, but this is for people who want some recognisable faces and a general sense of familiarity (Atkinson, for example, is doing little more than a Mr. Bean act with an accent on top of his usual schtick). Passable enough. Just not often very good.

5/10

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Sgt. Bilko (1996)

It's never a good idea to take a beloved comedy icon and try to put your own spin on it, but Steve Martin doesn't seem to care about the risks involved. In fact, some might say that he took an even bigger chance when he took over the role of Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther movies, but there's no denying that a LOT of people loved both the character of Sgt. Bilko and the actor who originally played him, Phil Silvers.

Master Sergeant Ernest G. Bilko (Martin) is a fast-talking, fast-thinking conman and gambler who has managed to spend years in the army without getting in trouble for any of his mad schemes and money-making operations. That looks as if it could change when he's assigned a new man to his company, Pfc. Wally Holbrook (Daryl Mitchell), just before the arrival of Major Colin Thorn (Phil Hartman) and the two people that he has brought along to perform an exhaustive audit of everything that Bilko is responsible for. If there is one item of stock missing, one dollar in the wrong place or one shred of evidence showing that he is up to mischief then Bilko will end up out on his ear, to put it mildly. He also needs to buck up his ideas and find time to marry his long-suffering fiance, Rita Robbins (Glenne Headly).

Full of ridiculous moments of near-farce, great dialogue and fun characters, Sgt. Bilko is a movie that I have always liked since first seeing it, and always felt that others didn't really give a chance. Martin is no Phil Silvers, but he's not trying to be. He's just mixing his own comedy persona with the character of Bilko, and it works.

The direction from Jonathan Lynn is unspectacular, but that's something that can be said for pretty much every film that he's ever helmed. He's competent with comedy material, and has been in charge of a couple that I really like, but the strength usually lies in the scripts that he's working from. Luckily, this one (written by Andy Breckman) is a goodie, full of energy and laugh out loud moments.

As well as Martin shining in the lead role, the likes of Headly and Hartman put in some wonderful work. Dan Aykroyd is particularly enjoyable as the Colonel who always suspects Bilko of being up to something but also likes just having him around. Daryl Mitchell may not have the best role, but he's enjoyable enough as the wide-eyed newbie learning all of Bilko's tricks from his first moment in the company. Chris Rock and Cathy Silvers are good fun as the auditors, and Max Casella, Eric Edwards (most memorable as Pvt. Doberman) and Pamela Segall are all worthy folk to be in cahoots with their scheming leader.

It would be wrong of me to assume that lots of people disliked Sgt. Bilko because it wasn't exactly as they wanted it to be and it wasn't the old Bilko, but I can't help feeling that there was certainly a bit of a cloud over this movie as soon as it was announced. And I get it, especially when a TV show or movie is updating an old, much-loved slice of classic TV. I also get that good things can come out of such developments. Some people think that in an ideal world we'd have no remakes or sequels proving the law of diminishing returns, but that ideal world would also see us missing out on some GREAT (in fact, I'll say it, CLASSIC) movies. Sgt. Bilko isn't a classic, but it's a cracking comedy for those who like the cast and enjoy their comedy with funny lines flying thick and fast through every scene.

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Steve-Martin-Collection-DVD/dp/B000QJMSFA/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1374361378&sr=1-1&keywords=steve+martin

Arthur 2: On The Rocks (1988)

As is the way of many a sequel, the follow up to Arthur comes with a longer runtime and less worthy content.

Arthur (Dudley Moore once again) is now living happily with Linda (Liza Minnelli) and the two are planning to adopt a child, despite Arthur’s ongoing enjoyment of anything containing alcohol. Things take a turn for the worse when Burt Johnson (a returning Stephen Elliott), who harbours a grudge like you wouldn’t believe, finds a way to cut off Arthur’s income and uses the situation as leverage to force the man into marrying his daughter, Susan (played this time by Cynthia Sikes).

It’s Bud Yorkin in the director’s chair this time around, working from Andy Breckman’s screenplay, and he does okay while being ill-served by material that was barely able to fill out one whole movie, let alone justify a sequel.

Moore acts the perfect loveable drunkard yet again, Minnelli somehow tolerates his behaviour, Stephen Elliott is not onscreen for long but a great hardass when he is, Cynthia Sikes portrays Susan as someone so appealing that you begin to wonder why Arthur doesn’t just go along with the forced marriage and Paul Benedict has the unenviable task of replacing John Gielgud as the new butler, living in the large shadow cast his predecessor. There’s also an appearance by Kathy Bates, playing a woman trying to help Arthur and Linda adopt a baby as if the two were Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

The film is passable enough, certainly for those who enjoyed spending time with the character of Arthur the first time around, but it’s not something I really enjoyed considering how I rated the first film as just above average anyway. This gets a generous . . . . . . . . . . 

5/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Arthur-2-Rocks-DVD/dp/B004MW57CI/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1371663496&sr=1-1&keywords=arthur+2