Rat Race [DVD] [2002]

My story's the same as everyone else - I saw the trailer, thought "Oh, for goodness' sake, it's just a remake of "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World; I'm steering clear", then caught the film by accident on the telly and was hooked.

The basic premise is simple - six keys, one locker, and a race for $2 million dollars. Mix into that some utterly hammy acting, Nazi Barbies, a cow tied to a hot-air balloon, and a woman intent on selling squirrels, and you've found yourself in the middle of Rat Race. And it's actually not bad. Rowan Atkinson's Italian, with an intentionally ridiculous accent and the line "Oh, a race! ...I hope I win" is frankly a remix of Mr Bean, whilst John Cleese's casino owner is classic Fawlty with extra teeth. But both those characters are classics, and stirred into this film, they become still funnier.

Every need is catered for, from those who like the disgusting (a human heart that lands up being chewed by a passing dog), to those who like the bizarre (betting on how long a maid can hang from a curtain rail). Even shameless pandering to the younger female population, myself included, can by found in the casting of the divine Breckin Meyer as a painfully cautious young lawyer determined not to go wrong, Seth Green as a dire conman, and Cuba Gooding Jr as a hapless football ref with a past he'd rather forget.

Yes, the ending is sickeningly sentimental, and in any other film would be inexcusable. But, given the events of the film, no other ending was possible. It doesn't try to be original, and really, who cares? Because in the end, you've had two million laughs at some crazy stuff that couldn't happen, and you're in a good enough mood to excuse anything.

If you're reading this then you've stumbled upon the page for one of the funniest movies of recent years. This film directed by veteran nutter Jerry Zucker (yes, he of ariplane and naked gun), so if you're familiar with his work then you'll know exactly what to expect from this little caper comedy!
The plot has eccentric casino owner Donald Sinclair (a top form Cleese with some rather odd false teeth!), pull together 8 random people whom he gets to race from Las Vegas to New Mexico for a prize of $2,000,000 whilst he takes bets on the outcome. And what a group he has assembled.
The action really gets going when bumbling brother Blaine and Dwayne (Vince Vieleuf and Seth Green, going very well together), sabotage the airport, consigning the race to the ground and a lot of fast paced gags. The other characters include Enrico Pollini, a narcoleptic italian, played by Rowan Atkinson who is basically Mr. Bean with an accent (some people have complained about this, but that's the character and who better to play Mr. Bean with an accent than Mr. Bean?), Owen Templeton, a football (the American version!) referee who is under scrutiny for a bad call that has a lot of gamblers breathing down his neck looking for revenge, is portrayed by Cuba Gooding Jr. The other cast members incluse further accomplished comedy actors such as Breckin Meyer and Amy Smart (Road Trip), Whoopi Goldberg, and Jon Lovitz.
What follows is an hour and a half of insanity in the classic chase movie style as the competitors try to outsmart each other in the race for the prize. Incidents along the way are typical Zucker with such nonsense as Jon Lovitz's Jewish family crashing into a WW2 veterans conference in Hitler's mercedes Benz, a cow dangling from a hot air balloon, Templeton stealing a bus filled with Lucille Ball impresonators, and Pollini dropping a transplant heart out of a moving vehicle. This movie doesn't let up with the laughs and should guarantee many with it's wide cast of characters, all very different, and played out by an accomplished cast of actors and actresses, but this will certainly not be to everybody's taste! Zucker is quite probably the best director for oddball comedy, but that's pretty much all you're going to get, some very stupid situation comedy, which is very low down on the intellectual scale, but still just as funny. The other main gripe with the film is the sickeningly sentimental ending, which despite featuring the music of Smash Mouth, still manages to seem very out of place, even if it is conveying a very appropriate message. Lot's of people didn't like the ending and i can see why, but the rest of the movie is pure comic brilliance.
If you buy this film, you won't be left short on laughs (unless you're on of those people who like all of their humour based on word-play and can spot the jokes in Shakespeare's work), but don't expect too much sophistication, this is more of a movie to sit down and watch of a night with a large bowl of popcorn and a few mates. Enjoy! I certainly did!

The film is undoubtely funny at times, but quite frankly I cannot understand what the fuss is all about.
My first impression of the film was that, because there were so many well known actors in it, the reason the film had been made was either:
1) to be shown in theatres at Christmas (good money), or
2) for charity's purposes (probably the ending made me think of that).
Many of the funny bits were so obvious that one could imagine what was going to happen long before it did (Hitler's car and the obvious impersonation at the WWII reunion, for example).
The one thing I really liked was the rich guests betting on almost everything (from the price asked by the hooker to the first man to throw up on a turbolent flight). That alone will justify my viewing the film again.
Rowan Atkinson's character did look Italian (including the dark 5 o'clock shadow and accent), and John Cleese's teeth were hilarious. Whoopy Goldberg did not even seem to be present, and Wayne Knight was practically a Newman driving an ambulance.