LAKE PLACID
A film review by Christopher Null
Copyright 1999 Christopher Null
filmcritic.com
It's crocodile season, opening the hunting period on an animal that has been woefully underused in the horror movie litany to date. But unlike most horror/thriller pics, this one features a script by David E. Kelley, best known as the creator of TV's `Ally McBeal.'
So there's some promise here. But does this monster movie rise above recent crap like ANACONDA or JAWS 3-D? A little. It's better than ANACONDA, anyway.
High concept plot: Giantest crocodile on earth stalks Black Lake (*not* Lake Placid) in Maine. When a guy gets eaten, local fish and game warden (Pullman) and New York paleontologist (Fonda) come to investigate. Croc chase ensues, with help from `eccentric millionaire mythology professor' Platt and local yokel sheriff Gleeson.
About the only thing that rescues LAKE PLACID from drecksville is Kelley's flair for sarcastic dialogue, which punctuates just about every line from the mouth of every character – and is most notably funny coming from Betty White (local eccentric lake dweller). But witty repartee a five-star movie does not make.
Coming in at about 80 minutes running time, witty repartee does make for a passable way to spend an hour. Too bad they couldn't have just worked this plot into an episode of `Ally McBeal.'
RATING: ***
|------------------------------|
\ ***** Perfection \
\ **** Good, memorable film \
\ *** Average, hits and misses \
\ ** Sub-par on many levels \
\ * Unquestionably awful \
|------------------------------|
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Steve Miner Producer: David E. Kelley, Michael Pressman Writer: David E. Kelley Starring: Bridget Fonda, Bill Pullman, Oliver Platt, Brendan Gleeson, Betty White
http://www.foxmovies.com/lakeplacid/
Christopher Null - null@filmcritic.com - http://www.filmcritic.com Author - Network Administrator's Reference, 1999, ISBN 0-07-882588-1 http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0078825881/filmcriticcom
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