Attention everyone, there is a bomb at the airport-this could end up to be Big Trouble, both figuratively and literally. But thank God this is only a film. The new flick Big Trouble offers comic relief and a creative storyline with an ensemble cast that includes Tim Allen, Rene Russo, Jason Lee and Dennis Farina.
Big Trouble is the latest work from the people who made Get Shorty, only this time it’s based on a Dave Barry book instead of the work of Elmore Leonard. But the film does carry elements over from Get Shorty, enough so that one could make an argument for Big Trouble being a “sequel-ish” film, except for the fact that it is actually a good film-something sequels seldom accomplish.
With such a large sprawling cast, it’s unclear which character the film revolves around: The answer is the bomb in the large metal trunk. But for purposes of this interweaving plot, Eliot Arnold (Allen) will be the center of attention.
Elliot used to be an award-winning journalist until he quit his job, his wife divorced him, and he opened up Eliot Advertising. Now he spends his days trying to win the affection of his son Matt and driving his Geo.
Meanwhile, on the other side of town lives Arthur Herk (Stanley Tucci) with his wife Anna (Russo) and daughter Jenny. Arthur recently stole a lot of money from his dirty employer, who is not happy about it and hired a hitman from New Orleans, Henry Algott (Farina), to go and kill Arthur. To top it off there is a Fritos-eating, Jesus look-a-like named Puggy who lives in a tree in Arthur’s backyard (Lee).
These Miami debutantes meet when Matt tries to squirt Jenny with the water gun while Henry tries to shot Arthur with a real gun. Henry misses and shoots the TV, one of many to bite the dust, and Anna wrestles Matt down while Puggy jumps from his Tarzan home on top of Henry. Eliot and the cops are called to the scene, and there the fun starts.
This is just the start of the film, and many more familiar faces turn up-including Janeane Garofalo, Tom Sizemore, Omar Epps, Johnny Knoxville and even some goats. So how do all these people meet?
The bomb. Somehow, almost magically the story connects all these different people with the bomb in the trunk. Big Trouble might seem like a complicated plot, but nothing could be further from the truth.
The movie moves at a quick but easy-to-follow pace, and the back and forth jumps between characters are reminiscent of Get Shorty.
It’s a pleasure to watch the cast of Big Trouble at work. They blend together nicely, something an ensemble cast should do. Allen’s antics are humorous and show that he still has some life left in his career.
Russo is her usual strong self, and Tucci is so good at playing a windbag that by the end of the film you just want to hit him. Lee drops his Brody image and goes for something a little holier.
The actor who steals the show, however, is Farina. His sarcastic, don’t-mess-with-me and I-hate-this-place attitude are similar to his roles in other films, yet he is still original and entertaining.
Big Trouble is a worthy of moviegoers’ cash, if not for the humorous antics of the story, then just for the talented cast.
The film is comparable to Get Shorty, but it does have enough differences to separate the two. And hey, the film has goats-how many films these days have goats?
Grade: A-
