Why me? Un plan d'enfer

I saw this movie while I was working at a Post Production studio in Hollywood, back in 1990. I was 19 and maybe somewhat more sympathetic back then.

Post Production can get boring at times, and a lot of very dull and incompetent programming gets produced and sent through Post Houses, like the one I worked at. But this movie, even being a solid "B" flick: starts, gets moving, does it's best with what it has, and wraps up decently (as far as stories go).

From what I remember, this movie doesn't pretend to be anything but entertaining; and while other movies do that better than this one, this is a movie that can entertain you if your bored and can watch a jewel thief movie without being critical about clichés. You can tell that the producers knew how much they could get from this budget and story and I don't think this crew could've done better. Chris Lambert, Chris Lloyd, and JT Walsh... good combo, and I think they pull it off as best it could be done.

When the film begins a press conference is held by the Turkish government but some thieves use gas for stealing the Bizantine fire (the most valuable diamond that was stolen 7 centuries earlier from Costantinopoli). At the same time Gus Cardinale (Christopher Lambert) and Bruno Daley (Christopher Lloyd) are doing a safecracking job in a jewelry where the robbers took a suitcase with the ruby in it (unknown to Gus and Bruno). The morning after there is the breaking news of the ruby, and an operation led by Francis Mahoney (J T Walsh) begins finding of course Gus as a suspect. With some help by Bruno's daughter who is about to become his wife, Gus will do his best to make the ruby return to the turks and make the real robbers arrested.

I was afraid to see WHY ME because it has only 11 reviews to date and on Youtube was uploaded by an user who mostly uploads very hard to find movies, but I have to say that I was quite surprised. Christopher Lambert (who is mostly known for HIGHLANDER and MORTAL KOMBAT) is surprisingly good in this considering it's a comedy while Christopher Lloyd is in his natural element. J T Walsh was also a surprise because he has mostly appeared in thrillers and drama, but here he was very funny as well. There were some hit and miss moments, and some very funny.

Overall a comedy much better than its reputation might suggest, and it's good for killing an hour and a half without thinking too much.

FYI... in the scene where Lambert makes the birds enter the bank from the window the security guards watch the ending of the first HALLOWEEN on TV. I say this because the day before I saw HALLOWEEN ENDS (the final chapter of the franchise after 44 years) in the movie theater. Perfect timing, don't you think?

My review was written in July 1989 after watching the movie at a TImes Square screening room. (NOTE: many months passed after this advance screening before the film was released in Paris and then In the U. S.).

Caper comedy "Why Me?" is a frantic but only intermittently funny U. S. vehicle for French star Christophe Lambert. Gallic reaction should be brisk, but pic shapes as a weak entry for American audiences.

Film just opened in Paris and is due out May 4 in the U. S. Pic is a throwback to '60s-style films -not surprising since it's based on a followup novel to Donald Westlake's "The Hot Rock", which spawned the 1972 Fox film and was followed up in '74 by "Bank Shot".

With aid of rewrite, Lambert follows in the footsteps of previous pics' Robert Redford and George C. Scott as the charming con man who's an expert safecracker. Teamed with sidekick Bruno (Christopher Lloyd in a variety of wacky costumes) and girlfriend June (Kim Greist), he steals the cursed ruby, the Byzantine Fire. This sets up a film-long chase around Los Angeles for the stone, wanted by the police, other criminals, the Turkish government and a nutty gang of Armenian terrorists.

Helmer Gene Quintano has fun with the knockabout chases and slapstick (often using distorting camera angles) but this material is old hat. "A Fish Called Wanda" proved the traditional caper film isn't dead, but "Why Me?" lacks its inspired casting and hilarious bits.

Lambert isn't funny in the lead role, though his scary stunt work dangling from a skyscraper in the finale is impressive (and, again, well-suited to French audiences, being in a Jean-Paul Belmondo mold). Rest of the cast plays it overly cutesy, except for J. T. Walsh who's effective as the mean police chief.

Tech credits are first-rate, with a bouncy score by Basil Poledouris.

"Why Me?" isn't a monumental achievement in film history, but its sure worth the rental. Like "The Drew Carey Show", it provides a lot of jokes from insults. Well, this derives a lot of them from the wonderfully bitter J.T. Walsh, who is great in this movie, as he is in most of his. He curses endly. In one scene, his assistant tells him to watch his language in his statement, that it might be on the six o'clock news, to which he replies "I don't give a f--k if they put it on the sides of milk cartons". Because of the fact that it doesn't carry a lot of weight, it works well as a lighthearted piece, accompanied by the bouncy-friendly score in it. Lambert is also a joy. A friend called it a "sweet" film, and it is. The bad people aren't really that bad. Quite goofy fun. Rent it if you get the chance.

Well, I've seen Adrenaline, anyway. And... no, that's about it.

Why Me? sort of falls between two stools: it's not shoulder-dislocatingly funny either by intention or by good old-fashioned ineptitude, which makes watching it a bit of a pointless exercise. The old jewel-thieves-in-over-their-heads caper has been done to death, and the combination of Christophers Lambert and Lloyd provides the film with a distinct reek of B-list. Neither are wacky enough to be engaging for very long: Lloyd's clearly only there for the money, and you get the impression that Lambert's actually toning down his natural dementia. He's one of the most charismatic actors around, but it's just not given the chance to shine through here. (Only one "heh heh heh" as well. Or perhaps there were more during the times I fell asleep.)

So then, Why Me?: brief moments of promise amidst the sadly overwhelming boredom and confusion. No wonder nobody's ever heard of it.