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Big Trouble /

Rated: PG-13

Starring: Tim Allen, Rene Russo, Omar Epps, Dennis Farina, Janeane Garofalo
Directed by: Barry Sonnenfeld
Produced by: Tom Jacobson, Barry Josephson, Barry Sonnenfeld
Written by: Matthew Stone, Martha Stone, Robert Ramsey
Distributor: Touchstone Pictures

 

Movie Image

Movie Image

Movie Image

     Big Trouble’s limited success is because of the extreme amount of sensitivity to the terrorist attacks. The plot is ultimately about a man trying to get a bomb off of a plane and even worse, it’s a comedy. What once was a comedic extravaganza is now a panned piece of trash. I’m not taking 9/11 into consideration when grading the film, and am only giving it a marginal recommendation, which enables me to say that it was a lost cause in the first place. There are quite a few funny parts throughout the flicks duration, but the entire picture gives us less than enough; though it still makes a worthwhile sit.

     The plot has a million different things going on, but in a nutshell, it is about Arthur Herk, a rich man, trying to buy a bomb. The story first starts with a homeless man named Puggy, eating a bag of Fritos, whom we first assume is some kind of Jesus on crack. We find out that he is simply the narrator of Big Trouble, as well as a supporting character. A conflict creates when he decides to move to Miami, when looking at an ad in Martha Stuart Living Magazine, inside of his home; a cardboard box in an alley. He busts a cheap ride down to Florida on a fishing boat from Maryland, and soon he makes it there. He walks into a vacant bar with about five bucks, and pays the bartender three of them for a drink. Some hardcore men walk into the bar and up to him, and then steal his change. He soon stumbles upon Tim Allen’s character and finds a woman, which I won’t get into because it will be spoiling too many laughs.

     The screenplay, by Robert Ramsey, is based on the novel by Dave Barry. Both of these men have stylishly written a very comedic story, and should be complimented; the writing is definitely not one of the flicks errors. The use of several different stories is not only intelligent, but unique; I haven’t seen multiple plots in one film since The Silence of the Lambs. The unique Puggy was beautifully done, and is one of the most inventive characters ever created in the movie business. Irony, for lack of a better word, is Big Trouble’s best trait, it similar to the Farelly Brother’s Shallow Hal (2001); much of its material can be taken very seriously, but almost everything turns out to be funny. This film will get less laughs that Shallow Hal because of the sensitivity shown to the terrorist attacks, but is still pretty goddam hilarious any.

     The direction, by Barry Sonnenfeld, is similar to his work on Men in Black II; it isn’t good, it isn’t bad, but it is adequate. The camera angles are done in a very mainstream way, and the special effects look cheesy; but they all have their own way of fitting in, and that’s the great thing about Sonnenfeld. He is not used to dealing with low budgets; both of the “Men in Black’s” were made for over 75 million dollars. But in Big Trouble, he had to sacrifice some of the stunning effects, and work with the solid screenplay. There is no way in hell to say that his work on the film was “inspirational”, but it fit the material, and produced a passing result.

     Big Trouble is nothing beautiful, but it provides us with some short-lived laughs and a good time at the movies. The final result is just above average, but is a heck of a lot better than some of the crappy material put into theatres these days. If you can’t make the matinee or early bird showings of the film, I would wait until it comes to video or Pay-Per-View. The Final Verdict: See it once, and enjoy it, but it does not deserve a tremendous amount of respect because of its average direction and poor looking scenes.

-Danny, Bucket Reviews