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    		•

    FILMS

    Rat Race (2001)
  • Starring John Cleese, Cuba Gooding Jr., Jon Lovitz, Rowan Atkinson, Breckin Meyer, Whoopi Goldberg, Seth Green, Vince Vieluf, Kathy Najimy, Amy Smart, Lanei Chapman, Dave Thomas, Wayne Knight, Dean Cain, Paul Rodriguez

  • Directed by Jerry Zucker


    • I'm not usually one to go in for "wacky and zany" comedies. I was reluctant to rent this one, and I probably wouldn't have except for a few things. Jerry Zucker is one of the brains behind such comedies as Airplane!, Top Secret!, and Police Squad! (not sure why they all have exclamation marks, but they do) and I found those films funny, if not sometimes silly. Nonetheless they were enjoyable. Also, I'm also a big fan of Seth Green, Rowan Atkinson, Cuba Gooding Jr., and John Cleese—so that helped me make my decision. Also, it only cost a few bucks and a few hours of my time—so where's the harm, right?

    And I'm glad I did because, for the most part, this film is hysterical. It helps a lot if you're in the mood for what it has to offer, but that pretty much holds true for most films. It's not like you're going to really "get into" Schindler's List if you were more in the mood for something like Dude, Where's My Car?.

    Rat Race, a remake of the 1963 flick It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, is the story of an eccentric millionaire who, Willy Wonka-like, chooses participants at random from his casino. However, they're not going to be touring a chocolate factory—they're in a race to travel over 500 miles to get $2 million. The first one to the finish line, a bag stashed in a locker at a train station, gets the cash. And like most movies of this nature, getting there is half the problem.

    Each of the participants in the race are quirky and strange. Green and his brother (Vieluf, who speaks unintelligibly throughout due to a bad tongue-piercing job) are low-rent con-men; Gooding is an NFL referee who made a bad call on a big game (and everyone knows he goofed the call); Lovitz is a dad/husband who drags his family (unknowingly) along on the race; Atkinson is an Italian tourist with high-grade narcolepsy; Meyer is the "regular Joe" of the group who never breaks the rules; and Goldberg has just re-joined her long lost daughter, played by Chapman.

    Most of Rat Race is funny. There are some parts at which I laughed really hard—most of these involved Green, Gooding, or Atkinson. There are others that are pure groaners—most of these involved Goldberg. I hate to disparage Whoopi like that, but I just don't find her funny anymore. Not sure what happened to her. She had some great, raunchy comedy back in the '80s, and Jumpin' Jack Flash was a pretty funny flick. (At least I liked it when it first came out to video years and years ago.) But Goldberg is only, roughly, 1/9 of Rat Race and there's plenty of comedy in the other scenes to go around.

    I'd recommend this to pretty much everyone. It's fairly benign, and I don't think there's too much "adult" situations, so it's fun for all ages. (Holy crap, I can't believe I just typed that.) All in all, Rat Race is good for a laugh while watching with it your friends.