Idle Hands (1999) 0 stars out of 4. Starring Devon Sawa.
"Idle Hands" is distasteful, crass and derivative.
If an original thought found its way into this horror-comedy it would die of loneliness.
Plus, you have to question the judgment and sensitivity of studio executives who would green light the release of a movie dealing with the slaughter of innocent teen-agers the week after the tragedy in Littleton, Colo.
The movie is insulting to horror film fans and teen-agers. The plot, what little there is, deals with Anton (Devon Sawa), a high-school slacker who's hand goes on a murderous rampage after becoming possessed.
Along the way the hand kills Anton's parents and his two best friends. The friends, also slackers, are so lazy that they return from the dead because the walk into the light was too far for them. That is the level of this's atrocity's humor.
The movie treats death as a joke.
"Idle Hands" is gruesome and morbid. The performances are stereotypical and cartoonish.
I realize this is supposed to pass for comedy, but recent events have surpassed what is on the screen.
It is not the fault of the filmmakers that real life has overtaken reel life. And I can only presume that the writers of "Idle Hands," Terri Hughes and Ron Milbauer, were trying to make some statement about today's young people and their values in a satiric vein.
However, it's hard to laugh at death these days, especially ones involving young people. With the real horrors of the world put before us on television, a stale pastry such as "Idle Hands" should be held from release for a few weeks or months to give us time to catch our collective breaths.
"Idle Hands" is bad, no matter the circumstances in the world outside. But the context of recent events only heightens its shortcomings. The time is not right for this type of movie.
And as far as "Idle Hands" goes, the time may never be right. This is a movie that shoud be consigned to the trash bin of cinema.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at bloom@journal-courier.com or at cbloom@iquest.net
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