Rat Race
| Year: | 2001 |
| Director: | Jerry Zucker |
| Cast: | Breckin Meyer, John Cleese, Rowan Atkinson, Cuba Gooding Jr, Whoopi Goldberg, Seth Green, Wayne Knight, Jon Lovitz, Kathy Najimy, Kathy Bates |
There's three points of interest here. First, Jerry Zucker comes back to what he knows 20 years later, doing the 'silly' comedy that made him, brother David and buddy Jim Abrahams famous with Flying High.
The second is that it's a remake of classic 1963 zany ensemble comedy It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World.
The third is that, like the spirit of it's inspiration, it collects a very interesting cross section of b-list Hollywood actors together to present the hyper-real characterisations.
It's silly-funny through, telling the story of a ruthless casino owner (Cleese) who organises a new game for high rollers – set a group of everyday clods in pursuit of a bag of money and bet on them.
Each character is distinct and interesting in his own way, but the structure of watching one after another in their adventures to reach the money keeps you interested where a story about just one of them would grate.
A worthy homage to its predecessor, a few cheap laughs and some earnest talent.
The second is that it's a remake of classic 1963 zany ensemble comedy It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World.
The third is that, like the spirit of it's inspiration, it collects a very interesting cross section of b-list Hollywood actors together to present the hyper-real characterisations.
It's silly-funny through, telling the story of a ruthless casino owner (Cleese) who organises a new game for high rollers – set a group of everyday clods in pursuit of a bag of money and bet on them.
Each character is distinct and interesting in his own way, but the structure of watching one after another in their adventures to reach the money keeps you interested where a story about just one of them would grate.
A worthy homage to its predecessor, a few cheap laughs and some earnest talent.