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Rat Race
Paramount // PG-13 // January 29, 2002
List Price: $29.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
There are apparently a fair number of people who, for whatever reason, regularly read the DVD rants I post here every few days. Many of them, I'd imagine, are probably curious if I have a sense of humor at all. The majority of the comedies I've reviewed over the past year have garnered less than enthusiastic reviews, and you'd have to look all the way back to last April to find a strong recommendation of an out-and-out comedy. That particular review was for the Criterion edition of the 1963 film Billy Liar, a fact that probably makes me seem even stuffier than you probably assumed. I really do have (well, what I think is) a reasonably good sense of humor, but most of the dreck lurching out of Hollywood in recent years has been of the gross-out variety. As I've noted in far too many other reviews, I spent nearly every waking hour of my childhood watching horror movies. I've been desensitized to the presence of bodily fluids and extreme imagery, and the lack of any underlying cleverness or wit in movies like Freddy Got Fingered doesn't stand much of a chance at eliciting a laugh. I was, mistakingly in hindsight, looking forward to Rat Race. It seemed like it was going to be a return to the madcap slapstick (I have a soft spot for the word 'madcap', and for that, I'm sorry) of decades past, and in a lot of ways, I guess Rat Race fit the bill. Where director Jerry Zucker, writer Andy Breckman, and company faltered was that outlandish situations in and of themselves aren't inherently funny.
A synopsis of the plot should be short enough. A criminally underused John Cleese plays Donald Sinclair, an eccentric billionaire who's devised a new way to entertain highrollers at his Las Vegas hotel. Instead of decks of cards or spinning wheels, the game involves setting a group of randomly selected visitors to the hotel on a race to find $2 million that is stowed away in a train station locker in New Mexico. There aren't any rules, and the participants -- which include a guileless foreigner (Rowan Atkinson), a straightlaced attorney (Breckin Meyer), a disgraced football referee (Cuba Gooding Jr.), a scam artist team of brothers (Seth Green and Vince Vieluf), a mother and daughter meeting for the first time after 27 years (Whoopi Goldberg and Lanei Chapman), and a vacationing family (led by Jon Lovitz) -- have no idea that every step they take is being monitored remotely. Of course, all sorts of wacky hijinks ensue, ranging from a bus of crazed Lucille Ball fans to a talking cow dragged about by a hot air balloon.
As I removed Rat Race from the tray in my DVD player, I came to the conclusion that I should make a concerted effort to avoid any comedy with Whoopi Goldberg. Her presence seems to be a hallmark for pain, at least following recent efforts like Monkeybone and The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle. On second thought, I guess that's unfair. No, not railing into Whoopi, but implying that Rat Race is painful. It's not particularly awful or in any way unbearable, but the film's primary mistake seems to be conceptual -- confusing the setup for the punchline. Characters often find themselves in situations that seem like they might lead to something funny, but the potential is never realized. Just as the gags seem as if they're finally moving somewhere, they taper off and we're switched to another participant. Only Jon Lovitz' quest, especially after makin' that GTA, offered much of any laughter. Seth Green is one of those actors who seemingly can't do any wrong in my eyes, and he pulls through reasonably well here as well. Another problem is that even though the Naked Gun series didn't have the most amazing joke-to-chuckle ratio, the comedy came in such a rapid-fire fashion that I was still in stitches throughout. Rat Race isn't quite as generous, preferring slow-moving sight gags rather than the deft execution seen in many of Zucker's other works. The finalé meanders for an excruciatingly long period of time, and after the requisite schmaltz, we're "treated" to a performance by Smashmouth of the ubiquitous "All-Star". The soundtrack also includes "Who Let The Dogs Out?". Oh, if only it were rounded out by "The Rockefellar Skank" just to make sure every overused song were represented in some form. Rat Race is less disappointing than many other recent comedies, but there are few enough laughs that it's probably best to sit this race out.
Video: As is the case with most new releases from any of the major studios, Rat Race looks quite nice. There are, of course, no visible signs of wear and tear on the source material, and dust and assorted flecks don't appear to any appreciable extent. This is a bright, colorful film, and this 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation reproduces those bold, vibrant hues gorgeously. The rest of the laundry list doesn't differ from what one should expect nowadays. Sharpness and clarity are both excellent, black levels are deep and inky, detail is strong...you know the drill. I've read a number of comments on various bulletin boards complaining about the level of edge enhancement on the disc. Though I admittedly only have a 36" television (which supports the 16x9 squeeze), there wasn't any haloing that leapt out at me. Quite spiffy.
Audio: Comedies on DVD have a reputation for offering relatively bland audio, making scant use of the six channels often at their disposal. Rat Race diverges from that stereotype, offering a much more active, expansive soundscape with its Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack than I was anticipating. Audio is constantly bouncing around from speaker to speaker, yet somehow that panning manages to never feel forced or unnatural. Dialogue, as expected, remains firmly rooted front and center, and it is never buried in the mix by the buoyant score or scattered sound effects. The mix makes equally effective use of the low frequencies, and the subwoofer is invariably rumbling to at least some small extent. Hiss and distortion, of course, are nowhere to be found. There is a French dub, also presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, as well as an English stereo surround track and a variety of subtitles.
Supplements: The obligatory "making of" featurette is included, and despite its lengthy runtime (over twenty minutes!), it focuses far too heavily on introducing the characters and the plot. This is strange for something presumably produced especially for a DVD, where its intended audience has almost certainly already watched the movie and knows what's going on. There are some cast interviews interspersed throughout, but nothing substantial.
Each of the six deleted scenes are introduced by director Jerry Zucker, who provides an explanation as to why they were excised from the final cut. None of the rather brief clips stand out as gems or contribute greatly to the plot. The gag reel is little more than a few minutes of the cast making goofy faces, though Jon Lovitz does make a "show me the money" quip that was nearly as funny as anything in the movie itself. Also included is a "giggles" reel, where Vince Vieluf has Seth Green in stitches while incoherently delivering a ::sniff!:: poignant line of dialogue.
Zucker and writer Andy Breckman sit down for a 9 minute interview which delves into the origin of the film and the inspiration behind many of its jokes. One inventive extras has Zucker and Breckman calling up the cast after finding the recording of a commentary insufferably dull. The commentary track, incidentally, was apparently never completed, or at least there isn't one packed onto this DVD. The chats aren't terribly interesting individually, and they each take a while to really get into anything remotely meaty. Though I didn't find this collection of calls to be overly compelling, the discussions are both more entertaining and more informative than anything in the behind the scenes featurette. Finally, there's a theatrical trailer.
Conclusion: With the number of infinitely superior comedies on the shelves, Rat Race doesn't really stand out in any way, especially at its $29.99 list price. It may be worth a rental for the crowd that religiously hits Blockbuster every weekend, but don't go out of your way. Rent It.
A synopsis of the plot should be short enough. A criminally underused John Cleese plays Donald Sinclair, an eccentric billionaire who's devised a new way to entertain highrollers at his Las Vegas hotel. Instead of decks of cards or spinning wheels, the game involves setting a group of randomly selected visitors to the hotel on a race to find $2 million that is stowed away in a train station locker in New Mexico. There aren't any rules, and the participants -- which include a guileless foreigner (Rowan Atkinson), a straightlaced attorney (Breckin Meyer), a disgraced football referee (Cuba Gooding Jr.), a scam artist team of brothers (Seth Green and Vince Vieluf), a mother and daughter meeting for the first time after 27 years (Whoopi Goldberg and Lanei Chapman), and a vacationing family (led by Jon Lovitz) -- have no idea that every step they take is being monitored remotely. Of course, all sorts of wacky hijinks ensue, ranging from a bus of crazed Lucille Ball fans to a talking cow dragged about by a hot air balloon.
As I removed Rat Race from the tray in my DVD player, I came to the conclusion that I should make a concerted effort to avoid any comedy with Whoopi Goldberg. Her presence seems to be a hallmark for pain, at least following recent efforts like Monkeybone and The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle. On second thought, I guess that's unfair. No, not railing into Whoopi, but implying that Rat Race is painful. It's not particularly awful or in any way unbearable, but the film's primary mistake seems to be conceptual -- confusing the setup for the punchline. Characters often find themselves in situations that seem like they might lead to something funny, but the potential is never realized. Just as the gags seem as if they're finally moving somewhere, they taper off and we're switched to another participant. Only Jon Lovitz' quest, especially after makin' that GTA, offered much of any laughter. Seth Green is one of those actors who seemingly can't do any wrong in my eyes, and he pulls through reasonably well here as well. Another problem is that even though the Naked Gun series didn't have the most amazing joke-to-chuckle ratio, the comedy came in such a rapid-fire fashion that I was still in stitches throughout. Rat Race isn't quite as generous, preferring slow-moving sight gags rather than the deft execution seen in many of Zucker's other works. The finalé meanders for an excruciatingly long period of time, and after the requisite schmaltz, we're "treated" to a performance by Smashmouth of the ubiquitous "All-Star". The soundtrack also includes "Who Let The Dogs Out?". Oh, if only it were rounded out by "The Rockefellar Skank" just to make sure every overused song were represented in some form. Rat Race is less disappointing than many other recent comedies, but there are few enough laughs that it's probably best to sit this race out.
Video: As is the case with most new releases from any of the major studios, Rat Race looks quite nice. There are, of course, no visible signs of wear and tear on the source material, and dust and assorted flecks don't appear to any appreciable extent. This is a bright, colorful film, and this 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation reproduces those bold, vibrant hues gorgeously. The rest of the laundry list doesn't differ from what one should expect nowadays. Sharpness and clarity are both excellent, black levels are deep and inky, detail is strong...you know the drill. I've read a number of comments on various bulletin boards complaining about the level of edge enhancement on the disc. Though I admittedly only have a 36" television (which supports the 16x9 squeeze), there wasn't any haloing that leapt out at me. Quite spiffy.
Audio: Comedies on DVD have a reputation for offering relatively bland audio, making scant use of the six channels often at their disposal. Rat Race diverges from that stereotype, offering a much more active, expansive soundscape with its Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack than I was anticipating. Audio is constantly bouncing around from speaker to speaker, yet somehow that panning manages to never feel forced or unnatural. Dialogue, as expected, remains firmly rooted front and center, and it is never buried in the mix by the buoyant score or scattered sound effects. The mix makes equally effective use of the low frequencies, and the subwoofer is invariably rumbling to at least some small extent. Hiss and distortion, of course, are nowhere to be found. There is a French dub, also presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, as well as an English stereo surround track and a variety of subtitles.
Supplements: The obligatory "making of" featurette is included, and despite its lengthy runtime (over twenty minutes!), it focuses far too heavily on introducing the characters and the plot. This is strange for something presumably produced especially for a DVD, where its intended audience has almost certainly already watched the movie and knows what's going on. There are some cast interviews interspersed throughout, but nothing substantial.
Each of the six deleted scenes are introduced by director Jerry Zucker, who provides an explanation as to why they were excised from the final cut. None of the rather brief clips stand out as gems or contribute greatly to the plot. The gag reel is little more than a few minutes of the cast making goofy faces, though Jon Lovitz does make a "show me the money" quip that was nearly as funny as anything in the movie itself. Also included is a "giggles" reel, where Vince Vieluf has Seth Green in stitches while incoherently delivering a ::sniff!:: poignant line of dialogue.
Zucker and writer Andy Breckman sit down for a 9 minute interview which delves into the origin of the film and the inspiration behind many of its jokes. One inventive extras has Zucker and Breckman calling up the cast after finding the recording of a commentary insufferably dull. The commentary track, incidentally, was apparently never completed, or at least there isn't one packed onto this DVD. The chats aren't terribly interesting individually, and they each take a while to really get into anything remotely meaty. Though I didn't find this collection of calls to be overly compelling, the discussions are both more entertaining and more informative than anything in the behind the scenes featurette. Finally, there's a theatrical trailer.
Conclusion: With the number of infinitely superior comedies on the shelves, Rat Race doesn't really stand out in any way, especially at its $29.99 list price. It may be worth a rental for the crowd that religiously hits Blockbuster every weekend, but don't go out of your way. Rent It.
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