Rat Race

Director Jerry Zucker

Cast John Cleese, Rowan Atkinson, Cuba Gooding Jnr, Whoopie Goldberg, Seth Green, Amy Smart, Dean Caine

Jerry Zucker used to make really funny films with Abrahams and the other Zucker. Who can forget the hilarity of Airplane, the silliness of Airplane 2, the humour of Hot Shots and Part Deux. Then there is the Police Squad series, and the Naked Gun films which followed. What about Reposessed? Oh....that was cack wasn't it. Erm, well...there was others...erm...Wrongfully Accused....oh...awful....erm....Spy Hard....pants....ah!

Well, in good old tradition of this legacy of comic delight (?) comes Rat Race!

The set up....a group of people in Las Vegas all win a lucky coin on the fruit machines. This enables them to partake in a cross country race to win the prize of $2million. Cue tons of hilarity as they beg, borrow, steal, and wreck vehicles to get there.

Oh what fun! At least it should be, but unfortunately for all involved, Zucker seems to have lost his comic flair. Perhaps he is the reason the last batch from the Abrahams/Zucker/Zucker canon were bad. Perhaps his humour just left him. This film is not really that funny.

Don't get me wrong, there are a few genuinely amusing moments, and even 2 (count 'em) which will have you laugh out loud. However, if you have seen the trailer before any other film, you have already seen these parts...so save yourself 2 hours of your life and miss this film.

You see, it is funny in the way Scary Movie was funny. That is, if you have never seen any of the above mentioned films (Airplane etc), and are under the age of 16, you will laugh yourself silly. If, however, you do not fit this bill, then wait for it to come out on video before considering.

The overly schmaltzy ending to the film doesn't really help matters, you finish off feeling warm inside, but a bit queasy to boot.

Not worth the price of a ticket, and now it is clear why it was postponed over here until after Christmas...at least it can be hidden in amongst the deluge of films out now.