Drowning Mona (2000) Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Neve Campbell, Jamie Lee Curtis, Casey Affleck, William Fichtner, Marcus Thomas, Peter Dobson, Kathleen Wilhoite, Tracey Walter, Paul Ben-Victor, Paul Schulze, Mark Pellegrino, Raymond O'Connor, Will Farrell, Lisa Rieffel. Screenplay by Peter Steinfeld. Directed by Nick Gomez. 95 minutes. Rated PG-13, 3 stars (out of five stars)
Review by Ed Johnson-Ott, NUVO Newsweekly www.nuvo.com Archive reviews at http://us.imdb.com/ReviewsBy?Edward+Johnson-Ott To receive reviews by e-mail at no charge, send subscription requests to ejohnsonott@prodigy.net or e-mail ejohnsonott-subscribe@onelist.com with the word "subscribe" in the subject line.
The gallows comedy, "Drowning Mona," is set in Verplunck, a small town in New York's Hudson Valley that was once a test market for Yugos. The national rollout of the chintzy cars proved to be a massive bust, but in Verplunck, everyone still tools around in the little death traps. The loser-mobiles are the perfect vehicles for the citizens of this weird burg. With its motley assortment of backstabbers, cheaters, connivers and other ne'er-do-wells, the community serves as the Bizarro Mayberry; a petri dish of colorful yahoos that could provide Jerry Springer enough guests for a year or two.
Opening day reviews of "Drowning Mona" were overwhelmingly negative, with most critics slamming virtually every aspect of the movie. Count me in the minority. While noting various problem areas, I was too busy laughing to worry about them much. "Drowning Mona" may be a mess, but it's a funny one.
It begins with the demise of Mona Dearly (Bette Midler), who plunges to a watery death when the brakes on her Yugo fail to work. Laid-back police chief Wyatt Rash (Danny DeVito) soon learns that the car had been sabotaged and launches a murder investigation. Narrowing the suspect list proves a difficult task – Mona was a monster widely hated throughout the community. In the matter of Mona's murder, any number of Chief Rash's friends and neighbors had motive enough to whack the harridan.
While the whodunit fuels the storyline, the real payoff in "Drowning Mona" comes from studying Verplunk's low wattage luminaries. There's jittery Phil Dearly (William Fichtner), Mona's battered husband (among other things, she smacked him in the head with a frying pan) who has been carrying on an affair with Rona Mace (Jamie Lee Curtis), a sexy waitress at the local diner. His son Jeff (Marcus Thomas) is another creepy piece of work. The surly boob lost a hand under mysterious circumstances (we're shown several possible scenarios for the mutilation, all involving him reaching for a beer at the wrong moment) and is widely known for being almost as mean as his mother. While working as a landscaper, he once mowed down a client's cat – literally.
Jeff's business partner, Bobby Calzone (Casey Affleck), was another frequent recipient of Mona's fury. The blond, blandly polite kid divides his time between trying to rid himself of Jeff, and working out details for his upcoming wedding to Chief Rash's daughter, Ellen (Neve Campbell), a feisty redneck used to getting exactly what she wants.
As far as colorful characters go, I've barely scraped the surface. There's self-assured auto mechanic Lucinda (Kathleen Wilhoite), freaky funeral director Cubby (Will Farrell), nosy old coot Clarence (Tracey Walter, who plays a very similar role in "Erin Brockovich"), Chief Rash's dumb cluck officers, led by the preening Feege (Peter Dobson) and many others.
Writer Peter Steinfeld and director Nick Gomez juggle their large cast well, making it surprisingly easy to remember each player in the ensemble. Still, several of the more intriguing characters are sketchily drawn and woefully underused. Steinfeld and Gomez treat "Drowning Mona" as if it was one episode in a TV series, focusing on a few characters for this installment while planning to highlight other cast members in later shows.
The writing is just as uneven. A running gag about lovers using a "Wheel of Fortune" board game as part of their sex play never takes off, and the plotline, which reveals the identity of the killer far too early, loses steam towards the end.
Still, the film is still funny. Beyond the obvious jokes lies an absurdist sensibility that leads to a number of wonderful off-the-wall moments. I won't spoil things by recounting them here, but one strong example occurs when Bobby spots Jeff leering at a young girl and exclaims "Come on, man, she just turned 13!" Jeff immediately replies, "Finally!" Tasteless? You bet, but it still left me howling.
The cast has a great time playing the local yokels. Bette Midler gets to strut her stuff in raucous flashbacks (unfortunately, the filmmakers include one ill-conceived scene that softens the character, failing to realize that for Mona to work, she needs to be as vile as humanly possible). William Fichtner and Marcus Thomas make an effective father-son pair, Danny DeVito nicely underplays his role and Neve Campbell whoops it up as a hillbilly debutante. Jamie Lee Curtis, Kathleen Wilhoite and Will Farrell also make indelible impressions, despite being given scant screen time.
If you're looking for a comedy with finesse and good manners, "Drowning Mona" is not for you. But if you simply want to laugh a lot and don't mind a considerable amount of nastiness, feel free to ignore the consensus and join me in the critical minority. I welcome the company.
© 2000 Ed Johnson-Ott
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