(rated PG-13, 85 mins.)
Following his big budget “Wild Wild West” director Barry Sonenfeld distances himself from special effects going for a stellar cast with a “Get Shorty” feeling. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning humorist Dave Barry’s best selling novel “Big Trouble”, it’s the story of how a mysterious suitcase brings together Tim Allen, Rene Russo, Stanley Tucci , Tom Sizemore, Janeane Garafalo, Patrick Warburton, Johnny Knoxville, Jack Kehler, Omar Epps, Dennis Farina and Jason Lee.. As an ensemble they form even more paired off in deuces: two miserable parents (Allen and Russo), two disgruntled teens (Ben Foster and Zooey Deschanel), two bumbling cops (Warburton and Garofalo), two FBI agents (Epps and Dwight “Heavy D” Myers), two goofy hitmen (Farina and Kehler) and two funny crooks (Sizemore and Knoxville). All of this chaos wraps around a naughty businessman (Tucci) who sets the plot into motion. While the movie was originally slated for a early fall, the September 11th tragedy caused brake-slamming on its release since the plot has to do with airport security. Or lack of. While there is some good humor, light-hearted silliness and good acting, the movie just isn’t funny which means it spells only one thing: “Big Trouble.”
