LAKE PLACID **1/2 (out of five stars) A review by Jamey Hughton
Starring-Bridget Fonda, Bill Pullman, Oliver Platt and Brendan Gleeson Director-Steve Miner Rated 14A
Lake Placid is probably the best rampaging crocodile movie I've ever seen. Oh wait... it's the only one I've ever seen. Yes, ruling out 1980's Alligator (which, of course, was about a rampaging alligator), Lake Placid is in a league of it's own. Or... is it?
The set-up is short and sweet. After a mysterious and grizzly murder on a small lake in Maine, local Sheriff Hank Keough (Brendan Gleeson) calls in the necessary officials. They include Fish and Game warden Jack Wells (Bill Pullman) and New York palaeontologist Kelly Scott (Bridget Fonda), called in to investigate an unusually large reptilian tooth found at the murder scene. After they bicker for a while about the greeny locales and buggy atmosphere, the group stumbles upon something very interesting inhabiting the lake. Hint: it's not a giant mutated beaver. It's a 30-foot crocodile which has supposedly swam all the way from Asian waters and found a home in the peaceful confines of Black Lake. And so they have to blow the croc up before it manages to chow down on more local residents.
Actually, there is only one local: an eccentric old woman (played by Betty White) who has adopted the big reptile as a pet, and feeds it her own livestock on a regular basis. Former Golden Girl White spews out many obscenities at the officials when they try to interfere, especially when they start asking questions about the strange disappearance of her husband. Lake Placid was written by David E. Kelley (creator of Ally McBeal and The Practice) in a campy, ludicrous but shamelessly entertaining fashion. The croc hunt is merely an excuse to unite Kelley's quirky characters in a unique situation. Yes, this film is essentially a comedy with a premise that could be easily mistaken for horror.
Nevertheless, a large portion of the budget has been dedicated to making the monster look appropriately convincing. Creature effects Stan Winston has created an excellent animatronic croc, and the computer generated effects are, for the most part, largely impressive. Unfortunately, there is a depressing lack of crocodile action to be found. The best scene happens early on, when the beast attacks a helpless bear by slamming it around like a sack of quivering potatoes. There are many brief scares, but nothing entirely prolonged to hold your excitement for a period of over four or five minutes. In a movie that clocks in at just under ninety minutes, the thrills and chills are few and far between. Luckily, Lake Placid does have a delightful sense of humor to at least compensate for some of these shortcomings.
The cast tries hard to salvage the material. Fonda is originally fun, but it soon becomes clear that Kelley is using her character as the `woman in distress', and little more. She falls out of a boat about eighteen times, and whines constantly to the dismay of the local law enforcement. Pullman is earnest and charming, but carelessly wasted. Chemistry between Kelly and Tom is flat and unconvincing from square one, and their romantic interludes are too hollow to be relied upon on such a regular basis. Needless to say, the movie belongs to two of the supporting players. Irish actor Brendan Gleeson breaks through the restrictions of his two-dimensional character and delivers an enjoyable portrait of a distraught small town sheriff. And Oliver Platt continues his string of authentic loons, playing an uninvited mythology professor named Hector Cyr who regards crocodiles as treasured, `godly' creatures. The insults exchanged between Hector and the sheriff are consistently the best and funniest in the movie.
But somewhere, the fun expires. While Kelley's script delivers unexpected laughs, it becomes unclear whether they are intentional or lamely forced. And the actors can only do so much for the characters, until their presence becomes meandering and pointless.
Of course, similarities to Jaws are obvious. How could you make an underwater creature feature without avoiding them? Lake Placid is ridiculously plotted, silly summertime entertainment for less demanding viewers in need of bloody carnage. But folks, for a horror/comedy about a lakeside man-eating crocodile, this ain't half bad.
(C) 1999, Jamey Hughton
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