Hey folks, Harry here with an advance look at RAT RACE, the Zucker directed remake of IT'S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD and frankly I could not be any more disinterested. Ok, so Typoidn thought it was mildly entertaining... Well, the original was a helluvalot more than that... So unless I see a billion raves, I think, I'll just rent the original instead! Here ya go...
Harry, you can call me TYPOIDN, and leave it at that -- and I'm here tonight to give you the scoop on the upcoming Jerry Zucker directed, RAT RACE. It took place at the Paramount Pictures Lot, in the studio screening room, and there was a lot of studio and development brass on hand to witness the proceedings.
SPOILERS AHEAD, THAR SHE BLOWS!
As for the movie, it's based on the well-known flick IT'S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD (which I just watched recently so I could compare it) about a group of strangers who intercept a dying man's revelation about a stack of money hid away in a town. Immediately, the set of strangers set off to win the money for themselves, resulting in wacky results.
RAT RACE, is basically that movie. Replace a dying man with a hilarious John Cleese (REPLETE with glowing Tony Robbins' type choppers) as the owner of the Venitian in Las Vegas -- a man whose rich clientele has grown tired of normal gambling, and so Mr. Cleese arranges for a group of strangers to be a part in winning 2 million dollars, hidden in a train station in New Mexico -- to the first one who gets there. Each team, given a key (also a tracking device for the bookmakers in Vegas), are on their way as the rich clientele start their betting. What goes on back in Vegas is hilarious, as John Cleese does his best to entertain the clientele with one funny betting scheme after another.
The teams are broken up as follows: Seth Green and his brother (forget his name), Whoopi Goldberg and her newfound daughter (forget HER name), Rowan Atkinson as a hilarious Bean-type character from Italy, Jon Lovitz and his wife Kathy Najimy and two kids, Amy Smart and Breckin Meyer, Cuba Gooding Jr. and a bus full of I Love Lucy lookalikes, and cameos by people like Kathy Bates, Wayne Knight, and even Gloria Allred.
For the most part, the flick is funny most of the way through with some great physical comedy and some nice action sequences as well. Even Whoopi did her part in keeping me somewhat entertained. Surprisingly.
On the whole, a good flick based on another. It's not rocket science mind you, but there's some geniunely funny surprises. That is, except for the ending. UGH.
It's that typical problem. They all get to the money and all have to figure out what they're going to do. Fortunately, they're doing it on stage with SmashMouth at a FEED THE WORLD fundraiser, so I'm sure you know how it all works out. A little too pat for me, but what the hell.
I don't know how they're gonna sell this thing, but I'm interested to see.
That's it!
-TypoidN
