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Corky Romano
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment // PG-13 // May 14, 2002
List Price: $29.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
Chris Kattan may be from "Saturday Night Live", but "Corky Romano" isn't another one of those irritating "SNL" - based films. I wish it was one of those. Any of the "SNL" spinoffs have provided a more enjoyable viewing experience than this film, a completely inept comedy that gets more groans than laughs. Kattan plays Corky Romano, a veterinarian who is brought back into his mob-affiliated family by his father (Peter Falk), who needs him to infiltrate the FBI to get back evidence against the family and destroy it.
The film doesn't paint the FBI in a very flattering light, which is the first depressing element of many in the film. Buying the fact that Kattan's dimwitted, manic character can walk into the FBI and clumsily become one of "the best" agents is impossible; I doubt if even a more skilled comedic talent could have sold this concept.
Speaking of comedian, it's obvious that Kattan desperately wants to be Jim Carrey. While Kattan certainly seems to have a taste for physical comedy, there's still too much planning evident in every movement. There's a series of slapstick scenes throughout "Corky Romano" where, out of bad choreography or simply bad acting, it becomes too evident that Kattan is stopping to think what he'll fall into next. The supporting cast looks deeply aware of what they've fallen into, especially Peter Berg and Chris Penn as Corky's brothers, who seem legitimately angry rather than just playing their parts. It's especially depressing to see Peter Falk here, after a terrific performance in Showtime's TV movie "Storm in Summer".
Director Rob Pritts certainly hasn't chosen the finest material to work with for his debut, but approaches even this weak screenplay badly. Clumsily staged, paced and even showing some moments that seem like poor improv, "Corky Romano" is an embarassment to all involved and the kind of film that quickly ends a first-time director's career. As badly as this film begins, it amazingly only gets worse.
The DVD
VIDEO: Buena Vista presents "Corky Romano" in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. The image quality is simply okay; the film really doesn't have anything in the way of visuals and, given the fact that most of the film takes place in office buildings, much of an interesting color palette, either. Sharpness and detail was perfectly consistent throughout, as the picture never looked slightly soft.
Flaws were minimal, as the print appeared clean with only a couple of specks here and there. Edge enhancement was occasionally visible, but no pixelation or other faults were seen. The film's color palette was fairly subdued, as rarely did colors appear that bright or vivid.
SOUND: "Corky Romano" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. As expected, sound hardly is a factor in a comedy like this one. Aside from one sequence, the surrounds are completely silent. The film is almost completely dialogue-driven, with the only element that opens things out slightly is the score by Randy Edelman. Audio quality remained decent, but not remarkable, as the music had little presence, but sound effects and dialogue remained fairly crisp.
MENUS: Although the sub-menus are fairly bland, the main menu provides some hyperactive animation.
EXTRAS: A sneak peek trailer for "Bubble Boy" (the one film from last year worse than this one) is included, as well as two extended scenes and a 12-minute "making of" featurette (as if anyone would want to learn more about how to make a movie like this).
Final Thoughts: This is a bad, bad, bad film. Kattan desperately flies around the frame trying to get some laughs, but comes up utterly short. Buena Vista's DVD provides decent audio and video, along with a couple of supplements. Still, I'd definitely skip this one.
Chris Kattan may be from "Saturday Night Live", but "Corky Romano" isn't another one of those irritating "SNL" - based films. I wish it was one of those. Any of the "SNL" spinoffs have provided a more enjoyable viewing experience than this film, a completely inept comedy that gets more groans than laughs. Kattan plays Corky Romano, a veterinarian who is brought back into his mob-affiliated family by his father (Peter Falk), who needs him to infiltrate the FBI to get back evidence against the family and destroy it.
The film doesn't paint the FBI in a very flattering light, which is the first depressing element of many in the film. Buying the fact that Kattan's dimwitted, manic character can walk into the FBI and clumsily become one of "the best" agents is impossible; I doubt if even a more skilled comedic talent could have sold this concept.
Speaking of comedian, it's obvious that Kattan desperately wants to be Jim Carrey. While Kattan certainly seems to have a taste for physical comedy, there's still too much planning evident in every movement. There's a series of slapstick scenes throughout "Corky Romano" where, out of bad choreography or simply bad acting, it becomes too evident that Kattan is stopping to think what he'll fall into next. The supporting cast looks deeply aware of what they've fallen into, especially Peter Berg and Chris Penn as Corky's brothers, who seem legitimately angry rather than just playing their parts. It's especially depressing to see Peter Falk here, after a terrific performance in Showtime's TV movie "Storm in Summer".
Director Rob Pritts certainly hasn't chosen the finest material to work with for his debut, but approaches even this weak screenplay badly. Clumsily staged, paced and even showing some moments that seem like poor improv, "Corky Romano" is an embarassment to all involved and the kind of film that quickly ends a first-time director's career. As badly as this film begins, it amazingly only gets worse.
The DVD
VIDEO: Buena Vista presents "Corky Romano" in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. The image quality is simply okay; the film really doesn't have anything in the way of visuals and, given the fact that most of the film takes place in office buildings, much of an interesting color palette, either. Sharpness and detail was perfectly consistent throughout, as the picture never looked slightly soft.
Flaws were minimal, as the print appeared clean with only a couple of specks here and there. Edge enhancement was occasionally visible, but no pixelation or other faults were seen. The film's color palette was fairly subdued, as rarely did colors appear that bright or vivid.
SOUND: "Corky Romano" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. As expected, sound hardly is a factor in a comedy like this one. Aside from one sequence, the surrounds are completely silent. The film is almost completely dialogue-driven, with the only element that opens things out slightly is the score by Randy Edelman. Audio quality remained decent, but not remarkable, as the music had little presence, but sound effects and dialogue remained fairly crisp.
MENUS: Although the sub-menus are fairly bland, the main menu provides some hyperactive animation.
EXTRAS: A sneak peek trailer for "Bubble Boy" (the one film from last year worse than this one) is included, as well as two extended scenes and a 12-minute "making of" featurette (as if anyone would want to learn more about how to make a movie like this).
Final Thoughts: This is a bad, bad, bad film. Kattan desperately flies around the frame trying to get some laughs, but comes up utterly short. Buena Vista's DVD provides decent audio and video, along with a couple of supplements. Still, I'd definitely skip this one.
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