Senseless Review
by Jon Popick (jpopick AT sick-boy DOT com)October 28th, 1999
PLANET SICK-BOY: http://www.sick-boy.com
This time of year is always painful for me. It’s always mid-February when people start to bitch that there are no black Academy Award nominees. Hey, dumb-ass, I’ve got a secret for you…Senseless is the reason why. So are Booty Call, Def Jam’s How To Be A Player and Most Wanted, just to bring up the few that I have the misfortune of remembering. Ring any bells, Einstein?
Senseless is the latest comedy vehicle for Marlon Wayans, arguably the least talented of the Wayans brothers. But, at least he’s not making action films. And what’s the deal with the Wayans brothers? Are there enough of them to populate Rhode Island? And does the WB network really stand for “Wayans Brothers”? While you ponder, I’ll continue.
Wayans plays Darryl Witherspoon, an economic student at fictitious Stratford University. While trying to concentrate on his studies, Witherspoon also works a series of odd jobs to pay for his tuition and to support his mother and younger siblings. These jobs include, but are not limited in any way to: campus tour guide, dishwasher, salad bar attendant, mail courier, water boy, blood and, of course, sperm donor.
The main plot line centers on Witherspoon vying for the prestigious junior analyst job with Smythe-Barney, a powerful brokerage firm that offers one position annually to a deserving Stratford graduate. Enter Scott Thorpe (David Spade), snotty-white-rich-son of a banker who presents the main competition.
The funny is supposed to come from Witherspoon enlisting in an experimental drug test for some quick cash. According to the crazy campus scientist, the drug is supposed to increase the senses five-fold. And you can pretty much write the rest of the film yourself.
There is one great recurring gag in which Witherspoon’s apparently Canadian roommate (Matthew Lillard) thinks that his pal is really a smack freak and continuously consults a pamphlet entitled “Is My Friend A Junky?” for information. The script, from the writers of the funnier Rocket Man, is also peppered with plenty of dick and shit jokes and even includes a reference to “tossed salad” that only I seemed to get.
Helmer Penelope Spheeris (Black Sheep, The Little Rascals) continues to stumble along the mediocre comedy-directing talent heap. One might think that she would choose a different career path after the success of her documentary series, The Decline of Western Civilization, which earned her kudos (and the “Freedom of Expression” award) at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Maybe those are harder to make, but they sure are easier to watch.
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