Big Trouble Review
by Bob Bloom (bobbloom AT iquest DOT net)April 4th, 2002
BIG TROUBLE (2001) 3 1/2 stars out of 4. Starring Tim Allen, Rene Russo, Stanley Tucci, Dennis Farina, Zooey Deschanel, Omar Epps, Ben Foster, Janeane Garofalo, Johnny Knoxville, Jason Lee, Dwight "Heavy D" Myers, Tom Sizemore, Sofia Vergara, Patrick Warburton and Psychedelic Toad. Screenplay by Robert Ramsey & Matthew Stone. Based on the novel by Dave Barry. Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. Rated PG-13.
Big Trouble was one of the funniest movies I saw last year.
Unfortunately, its original release date was shortly after 9-11, and since one of its plot points dealt with a mysterious suitcase that contained a mini-nuclear device that threatened the city of Miami, it was decided to pull the movie for a few months.
Based on a book for humorist Dave Barry, Big Trouble features an ensemble cast headed by Tim Allen, Rene Russo, Stanley Tucci, Tom Sizemore, Jason Lee, Dennis Farina, Janeane Garofalo and Patrick Warburton among others.
The plot is the least important aspect of this movie, directed by Barry Sonnenfeld (Get Shorty, Men in Black) and adapted by Robert Ramsey and Matthew Stone. It deals not only with the aforementioned suitcase, but also with a game called "Killer," in which high school students with squirt guns had to squirt a designated person at night.
Allen is Eliot Arnold, a former newspaper columnist, now reduced to working public relations, and how the suitcase and game change his life and involve him with an unhappy housewife (Russo) and various gangsters, bumbling petty crooks, inept police officers and arms smugglers.
Among the various cast members Tucci is over the top - in a good way - as a shady businessman whose illegal dealings make him the target of a sour hit man, Farina, who hates Miami.
Farina, too, is funny as the grouchy gunman who holds the city in disdain, and constantly complains about the food.
Garofalo and Warburton as the police officers who don't understand what they have become involved in are droll, while Lee is endearing as the tree-living vagrant, Puggy, who has an obsession for a certain brand of corn chips.
All these components do mesh as the comedy is continuous and quick-paced.
Big Trouble is the kind of screwball feature that will have you forgetting all your own troubles. It's silly, loud, nonsensical, with touches of slapstick. The jokes fly as quick as the bullets.
So, have a good time and enjoy. Comedies such as this are rare, so catch them when you can.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at bloomjc@yahoo.com or at bobbloom@iquest.net. Other reviews by Bloom can be found at www.jconline.com by clicking on golafayette. Bloom's reviews also can be found on the Web at the Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Bob+Bloom
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