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Big Trouble is a lot of damn fun,
but any discussion of the film first requires
a discussion of its "controversy."
Big Trouble was supposed to come
out way back in December, but then Osama
bin Laden decided to paint a big target
on his forehead, and thus a movie that involves
both 1) a bomb on an airplane and 2) criticism
of how ridiculously easy it is to bypass
airport security would be seen as sensitive
material. Fair enough, and also a bit unfortunate.
You see, I've read Big Trouble the
novel, twice, and while it's obvious Dave
Barry is no novelist, his brand of humor
shines through with flying colors. It is
a hysterical novel. I, much like Stephen
King, literally fell out of my chair laughing.
Out of the chair. Onto the floor. Laughing.
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Okay, don't get me wrong. Big Trouble the
movie isn't quite that funny, but a lot of the integrity
of the book remains. The key to Dave Barry's humor
is that he inserts a kernel of logic and rationality,
and then proceeds to layer it in absurdity. The
craziness mounts, and mounts, and mounts, and gets
funnier, and funnier, and funnier...
It's probably easier to show than to tell. So
here goes.
Imagine a movie that involves the following cast
of characters. There are two cops (Janeane Garofalo
and Patrick Warburton), the woman a no-nonsense
type and the man a total musclebound showboat.
There are two hitmen (Dennis Farina and Jack Kehler),
who cannot believe the bad luck they have being
in such a weirdass town as Miami. The two hitmen
are hired by Arthur Herk's (Stanley Tucci) employer
to whack Arthur, because Arthur is one big old
dickhead and embezzler besides. Arthur is married
and has a stepdaughter (Rene Russo as the wife,
Zooey Deschanel as the stepdaughter). The stepdaughter
is attracted to a classmate (Ben Foster), and
the wife happens to be attracted to the classmate's
dad (Tim Allen). Also, a bum with a noticable
Frito fetish (Jason Lee) has taken up residence
in a treehouse behind Arthur Herk's palatial estate,
and the Herks' maid (Sofia Vergara) is quite taken
with him. There's also Snake and Eddie (Tom Sizemore
and Johnny Knoxville of MTV's Jackass), two lowlives
with more grease than brains.
And that's all without even mentioning the FBI
agents and the Russian bar owners/arms dealers.
And the nuclear bomb. And the goats.
It's complicated, you see. Somehow Dave Barry
wove all these various people together into one
plot and it worked. To hilarious effect. And somehow,
Sonnenfeld, with screenwriters Robert Ramsey and
Matthew Stone (not the South Park Matt Stone),
compressed the hilarity and complexity (and, yes,
the absurdity) into a package under an hour and
a half. It certainly isn't the most memorable
film, and will probably end up being one of those
movies that's nice to encounter at 2am on a Tuesday
night on basic cable. But not too much more.
So yeah, Big Trouble is pretty damn funny,
and like the book it takes a bit of patience before
the big laughs start really paying off. Where
the movie fails is that it falls prey to a thankfully
uncommon little disease I like to call Sonnenfeld
Syndrome.
Sonnenfeld Syndrome is a film that affects comedies
directed by its namesake, one Barry Sonnenfeld.
Take a look at his filmography: The Addams
Family, Addams Family Values, Men in Black, Wild
Wild West, and the upcoming Men in Black
2. What's the unifying theme here? Highly
visual films that can set up a great joke and
always, always, always fail to follow through.
Sonnenfeld is like that guy (you know that guy)
who sets up a great joke and forgets the punchline.
So it is with his movies.
Big Trouble doesn't fall as badly prey
to Sonnenfeld Syndrome as previous Sonnenfeld
films, but comes pretty close. The strength of
the unbelievable cast and the farcical script
keep it going, but I can't honestly jump up and
down and tell you you must absolutely see this
movie. If you do, great. Just have patience. If
you give Big Trouble a shot, well, you'll enjoy
yourself. And there's a hell of a lot of worse
ways to spend your time and dough.
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