LOST AND FOUND
Reviewed by Harvey Karten, Ph.D. Warner Bros./Alcon Entertainment Director: Jeff Pollack Writer: James B. Cook & Marc Meeks & David Spade Cast: Jon Lovitz, David Spade, Sophie Marceau, Patrick Bruel, Artie Lange, Mitchell Whitfield, Martin Sheen, Estelle Harris, Rose Marie, Marla Gibbs, Carol Cook, Christian Clemenson
If you were a beautiful, talented woman, which guy would you pick? Your first suitor is tall, dark, incredibly handsome and smooth, and as a virtuoso pianist is entirely capable of accompanying you on your cello. What's more he speaks your language and owns a Mercedes 500. He has come from your native France solely to pay court to you. The other admirer is shorter than you, witty in English in ways beyond your comprehension, but at a total loss in your own language. He plays no instrument but dedicates his time to opening a restaurant and desperately needs a loan to survive. Hint: This is a romantic comedy.
Now that you're guessed correctly, you realize that in this genre, the object is to keep the two would-be lovers apart throughout the story, bringing them together only at the conclusion. "Lost and Found" varies not at all from its film category, and while the movie is eminently watchable and enjoyable, the fable rarely rises above the caliber of TV sitcom. Featuring the usual objects of sitcom derision, "Lost and Found" highlights strange and laughable people such as a group of biddies who wile their hours playing strip poker and a kitchen staff which headlines the idiotic Turtle (played by Turtle), who unleashes a fire extinguisher on a pan of flaming goodies, and a blobby guy, Wally (Artie Lange), who wants only to be a disciple of his boss.
With David Spade in the lead role of Dylan, a struggling California restaurateur, director Jeff Pollack launches a series of skits in the style of Saturday Night Live rather than a single, unified design. Unoriginal that the assortment of scenes may be, most of them work, thanks largely to the talents of Coby, a clever, wily and handsome cairn terrier in the role of Jack and to the beauty of Sophie Marceau who, as the angelic Lila, has successfully taken on the challenge of her first English-language comedy.
Dylan seeks a relationship with his next-door neighbor, Lila, who has set herself up in California to pursue her goal of playing cello with a philharmonic orchestra. Dylan's competition for the woman's affections is Rene (Patrick Bruel), whom Rene has thrown out of her life in Paris after she has caught him cheating but who has come repentant to America to rekindle the tie. Suspecting that he is way out of his league, Dylan conjures a design to gain her attention by kidnapping Lila's dog, Jack, and offering to help her look for the terrier all over town. In a secondary plot, Dylan has lost a diamond ring entrusted to him by his friend Mark (Mitchell Whitfield), who intends to present the jewel to his wife as an anniversary surprise.
"Lost and Found" does not exactly push the envelope, given the recent run of vulgarity in "Trainspotting," "Clerks" and "There's Something About Mary," but you can't help chuckling at the movie's big poop joke--and this is a big one. When the feisty Jack swallows the ring, Dylan must wait until the dog passes the stone. When Jack does his business along with a dozen other dogs in a park, Dylan collects all the fertilizer in one huge trash bag, graphically sifting through the treasure with his loyal employee, Wally. Jack is used for comic ends as well by winding up in a running dryer, emerging with a bad-hair day that could bring a scowl to the face of the dog people in the audience.
Patrick Bruel, a French rock star, turns in a believable job as David Spade's rival, who uncovers the shorter man's designs and uses the information to put an end to the competition, while some nice short roles are put in by comics like Jon Lovitt--who plays the part of a "dog whisperer" who advises on methods of separating the ring from the dog. David Spade comes across as a soft-spoken, likeable guy, not at all the loudmouth that you might expect in a Roberto Benigni movie. "Lost and Found" opens on Ginger (Ever Carradine), the wife of Dylan's friend, who sums up her impression of Dylan: "I thought you were a jerk but you were sweet--intermittently--when I got to know you. That pretty much sums up the picture.
Rated PG-13. Running Time: 95 minutes. (C) 1999 Harvey Karten
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews