There Goes the Neighborhood

This movie has lots of big-name actors. Sure, it wouldn't have won any Golden Globes or anything. Yes, I saw the ceremony right after I watched this. Many movies were honored for real social significance and important lessons. None of that can be found here. It's just good clean fun--well, cleaned up, apparently, because there were some sound editing problems that reminded me of network broadcasts that had been sanitized. Actually, this movie is close to being family-friendly. And of course there is lots of physical comedy.

Hector Elizondo, who I know best as the man who built an outdoor products empire with the help of his marketing genius, gives the standout performance here. He seems to be a fairly standard professional man until he starts realizing what an opportunity he has, and then he kind of goes off the deep end.

Heidi Ziegler also stands out as the annoying little girl.

Everyone else is good, but the performances are nothing innovative. Just entertaining.

The writing is silly and good for plenty of laughs.

If you just want a good time, this might be for you.

Dr. Willis Embry is a psychologist in New Jersey prison. His girlfriend just left him and he's not having a lot of success with the group of prisoners that includes Marvin, Lyle and Marty.

So when Trick Bissell, dying of cancer, confides in Embry about where his millions in stolen money is buried, Embry wants to take advantage. Of course, Lyle was in the next cell and got all the information ... well, almost all. He knows which Chicago suburb and the name of the street, but the house number is a little off.

The actual location of the money is the house of Albert and Jessie Lodge, who are going through a violent divorce. Jessie wants to sell the house and split everything with Albert. So there are prospective buyers coming in all through the movie, and what they see isn't always what they should see.

Embry sneaks into the house with tools and eventually convinces a reluctant Jessie to let him wreck her basement. Meanwhile, Lyle's gang terrorizes the Rutledges next door as they too turn that house into a disaster area. And the nosey neighbors Lydia and Jeffrey, and obnoxious teenager Swan, make trouble for everyone as well. And poor Lyle, though the toughest acting of the bunch, gets bossed around and ends up doing all the hard jobs.

It's not exactly "Ocean's Eleven" because the crooks are all bumbling idiots, but it's a fun movie and quite funny at times.

Hector Elizondo and Heidi Zeigler have some of the standout moments.

Apparently some language had to be cleaned up for TV, but the V-chip rating when I saw it was a plain-vanilla TV-PG. It's almost a family-friendly film in the version I saw. Almost. There's some violence but it's mostly of the slapstick variety.

Prison psychologist Willis Embry (Jeff Daniels) is told by dying inmate Tricks about a hidden mob loot. Lyle Corrente (Chazz Palminteri) overhears the conversation and escapes with Handsome Harry (Jonathan Banks) and Marvin Boyd (Harris Yulin). They almost kill Willis. The three criminals take over the home of the Rutledges (Hector Elizondo, Judith Ivey). Willis convinces divorcee Jessie Lodge (Catherine O'Hara) to dig in her basement. Their married suburban neighbors Lydia Nunn (Rhea Perlman) and Jeffrey Babitt (Dabney Coleman) start to notice the commotion.

This is a great diverse cast. There are some good comedic actors but the laughs are limited. While it's not overtly awful, it does fall flat for the most part. Writer/director Bill Phillips struggles to put together some traditional jokes. It's a lot of slightly quirky situations in a comedic crime story that never amounts to actual laughing. Hector Elizondo's reveal is head-scratching. I don't think it works and it leaves the flow bumpy.

A deep cast playing wacky characters makes this a fun film for most of the way, except the last 20-30 minutes when the sleazy jokes, sleazy situations and stupid stereotypes go overboard and almost ruin the entire viewing experience. (Why do movies usually overdo things in the last 20 minutes, whether it's comedy or an action film?)

All the sex jokes are not untypical of today's comedies in which marriage is made out to be nothing but a joke, morals are at their lowest and we have to listen to 10-year-olds are smart-mouthed kids.

However, to be fair, there are a lot of funny scenes and remarks in this film. I liked Catherine O'Hara in here, along with Hector Elizondo and Chazz Palminteri. I never realized the latter was such a good comedian as I had only seen him play gangster roles. All the characters are meant to be absurd and biggest example of that was Elizondo's character, "Norman Rutledge" who had the best lines in the movie.

In all, ludicrous and stupid but entertaining enough to recommend a rental.

I'd give this movie an 8 for an original story, good acting, and some funny moments. The movie is certainly not a classic, but Jeff Daniels and Catherine O'Hara are both excellent and the movie has some genuinely funny moments.

The thing that really makes this movie, though, is the supporting cast. Jeremy Piven has a funny, albeit small role. Hector Elizondo is funny as a scheming husband. Chazz Palminteri shows off some comedy chops and has some funny moments. While the gangsters are stereotypical, it does result in some laughs.

Overall, this movie won't be among the all time greats nor will it necessarily make your top 10, but it is a good, funny movie to watch and worth the price of a rental.