Big Trouble

It's Easter, and as my parents sit in the living room watching television with the volume turned up to 86, here I sit in my bedroom, typing a review for the movie we just saw, "Big Trouble." It was my father's choice, a choice I assume he quickly began to lament, as the movie almost immediately begins with a scene of a man sucking the toes of his incredibly attractive maid. I mean, if you thought watching sex scenes with your parents was awkward, just try watching foot fetishism.

"Big Trouble" is one of my dad's favorite comedies, and honestly, I can understand why. It's a breezy, quickly paced, and fast moving little flick that's charmingly irreverent and definitely unpredictable. With a surprisingly star-studded cast and everything from bumbling hitmen to a street full of goats to Johnny Knoxville trying to rob a bar, "Big Trouble" has enough characters and plot points to fill the first two seasons of a CBS television show. And somehow, the movie makes it work, most likely because of the overall bizarness of the story.

Ben Foster, Tim Allen, Zoey Deschanel, and Rene Russo all have parts to play in this film, including a laundry list of other stars too numerous to mention. And part of the fun of watching this movie was seeing who was going to show up next. All of them have their own role in this movie, and all of them get into scenarios so unrealistic, bordering on cartoonish, that at times this movie felt like a live-action Looney Tunes epsiode. But, and I hate to say this, it adds to the films charm. I mean, this movie is so out there that I guarantee you've never seen anything like it. It's a very weird, almost surreal movie, but it's fun.

The overall bizarness of this story made it enjoyable for me to watch, and the one liners and running gags sprinkled throughout made me laugh harder than I expected. I'm not as big of a fan of this movie as my dad is, but it had more than enough wackiness to keep me entertained throughout.

7/10

Dave Barry, author of the book, does a really good job of portraying humor about his home town (Miami), teenagers, parents, divorce, marriage, autos, airports, difficulties of working in a strange town. The movie is humorous, fun, and moves along quickly. You can enjoy a nice time with it. All the actors do a great job. I think some of my favorite lines have to do with arrivals & departures at the airport! Behind the humor are the scarey foundations of some of the major scenarios of the movie. (Can't say what those are; gives too much away.) So if you are in need of a comedy to enjoy, but which may leave a residue of some of the problems of today's world, watch "Big Trouble".

I've seen one user comment here already that unfairly compares Big Trouble with Snatch or Pulp Fiction, but that's really neither here nor there. Big Trouble is intended for an entirely different audience, and while it never reaches the mighty heights of the former, it does a big crap on the latter because it never takes itself too seriously. It recognises that the audience doesn't want a film as a fashion statement, but merely as a form of entertainment. The makers also recognise that they don't have the material here to entertain and inform at the same time, so they just concentrate on making the best comedy that they can. It is for this reason most of all that they succeed.

The strengths of this film are actors like Tim Allen, Jason Lee, Dennis Farina, and Tom Sizemore. I never thought I would say that about Allen, but it appears that when you give him decent material, he can actually make something out of it. Jason Lee is a pleasant surprise as the unwashed hippie who seems to just magically appear in a tree (you have to see it to believe it). Tom Sizemore, however, really steals the show as the thug who just doesn't quite seem to have the brainpower to do anything correctly.

Put simply, this is a crime caper that was intended for families who want to be able to take their pre-teen children to something with this kind of plot and not be worried about the content. Whether you agree with this marketing philosophy or not, it does allow for success of a different kind, namely that it succeeds because it is so unreal that the viewer can laugh without getting disgusted by some of the characters.

The things that detract from this comedy are some weak supporting actors. Zooey Deschanel even gives the camera the old "stunned mullet" look at times, while Patrick Warburton only seems to know one expression. Stanley Tucci can't give us anything to sympathise with his character over, and Sofia Vergara seems completely doomed to be a bit player for whatever little career she might have. The running length is a bit of a two-edged sword - on one hand, it makes sure that the film is never boring, and no scene goes on for longer than its welcome. On the other hand, possibilities for interesting subplots are often passed over.

In the end, I gave the film a seven out of ten. It's not rocket science, but if you sit back in your chair with a beer and some popcorn, preferably with some friends to share your disbelief with, it makes a good piece of entertainment that won't make you wish you could have those 85 or so minutes back. Recommended for those in a light-hearted mood.

I really enjoyed this film. Think Elmore Leonard meets Donald Westlake, and you've got an idea of the kind of plot and quirky characters you're in for. The Elmore Leonard feel is mainly in the Miami setting (and possibly the fact that director Barry Sonnenfeld also directed "Get Shorty"). The rest... reminds me of some of Westlake's funnier, quirkier stuff, like "Why Me".

I laughed out loud, which I don't often do at movies, and I *loved* the supporting cast.

I'm disappointed that some reviewers have let September 11th make them hypersensitive about anything involving explosives or an airport. There aren't any actual terrorists in the film, no Arabs or other Middle-Eastern types with evil on their mind, just silly characters.

This was good, comic fun, and when it comes out on DVD, it will be a welcome addition to my collection.

When my husband and I heard that Barry Sonnenfeld was going to direct the film version of Dave Barry's first novel, we were pretty excited. Both men have a similarly nutty knockabout comic sensibility with a touch of the surreal, and this wacky farce about a motley crew of Miami citizens embroiled in a race to recover an atomic bomb seemed like the perfect vehicle for them to pool their talents on. Well, it was! Hubby and I had a grand time -- but alas, we seemed to be among the very few moviegoers who even gave the flick a chance! I guess it didn't help that BIG TROUBLE's originally-scheduled December 2001 release was delayed due to worries that a plot involving smuggling an A-bomb through laissez-faire airport security would seem more disturbing than funny after the horrific events of 9/11/2001. Maybe most audiences are still too spooked right now to appreciate the satiric possibilities in Sonnenfeld & Co.'s cynically funny, Billy Wilder-esque treatment of these elements -- but I hope that down the line, folks will give BIG TROUBLE a chance, because really, it's like what might have resulted if Billy Wilder had ever had an opportunity to direct The Marx Brothers. We were laughing throughout! The ensemble cast is superb, from Patrick Warburton and Janeane Garofalo as members of Miami's Finest, to Tom Sizemore and Johnny Knoxville as dunderheaded crooks, to Tim Allen and Rene Russo's chemistry as single (well, unhappily married in Russo's case) parents who get drawn into the shenanigans when their respective teenage kids Ben Foster and Zooey Deschanel (both delightful -- I wouldn't be surprised if these two became big stars someday!) accidentally foil a hit on Stanley Tucci (hilariously obnoxious as Russo's dreadful second husband) by Jack Kehler and Dennis Farina (spoofing his earlier role in Sonnenfeld's GET SHORTY adaptation). Everybody gets a moment to shine, even Jason Lee as a hippy-dippy drifter and Sofia Vergara (who looks remarkably like a Latina Denise Richards) as Tucci's put-upon maid. C'mon, give this unfairly underappreciated gem a chance when it hits home video!