The Stupids (1996) 94m
This silly comedy by John Landis could have been created for the screen without any reference to the children's storybooks by Harry Allard and James Marshall, but I suppose a copyrighted title like 'The Stupids' was too good to pass up. The film utilizes the stories' characters and their pets (computer-animated in the style of Marshall's illustrations) but the plot is far trickier than their simple adventures in print. What's great about THE STUPIDS is that its storyline is made of the flimsiest of ideas, thrown together with such abandon that you'll probably think scriptwriter Brent Forrester made the whole thing up as he went along. Without giving away the gag that sets the story into motion, Stanley Stupid (Tom Arnold) believes there is foul play at work in his neighborhood. After launching his own investigation he concludes that he has discovered a dastardly scheme of global proportions. His wife and two children, who are just as oblivious to the real world as he is, don't need much convincing. Living up to their family name, all four of them embark on a series of misadventures, which, of course, ends up with them unraveling a genuine conspiracy playing out right under their noses.
The humor of THE STUPIDS is a lot smarter than its title suggests, although like many comedies it resorts to slapstick for the finale. The film's highlight has Arnold explaining his conspiracy theory to the rest of the family while we see it being played out for us in his mind (Christopher Lee is a hilarious asset to this scene). It perfectly encapsulates both the world the Stupids live in and the rationale of the script, which derives its humor from the way that Stanley and his family create bizarre hypotheses to explain the most ordinary of day-to-day situations. Clearly, the children have been brought up with the same insulated logic as their parents - they too misinterpret the most basic of encounters. This allows the characters to interact in different combinations without having any one smarter family member offsetting the balance - for example, Father and Daughter believe they have died because the lights have suddenly been turned off (this is taken from the original stories); Mother and Son figure out that an elevator must be a time machine; Brother and Sister are convinced that their parents are being held for ransom in a Chinese restaurant; Mom and her children try to use a computer and blow up the office; Mom rushes into a wig shop to get a disguise and emerges covered entirely in wigs; and of course the family's patron, Stanley, creates mayhem wherever he goes on his crusade to save the world (he also gets to sing a hilariously complicated song about his family tree).
THE STUPIDS was generally slammed by critics and didn't do as well as other films by Landis, which is a shame as it has a goofy, easy-going charm that is absent in many of his later films. One likely reason for its failure is that the public had had enough of Tom Arnold's tabloid-grabbing antics with former wife Roseanne Barr. But I think Arnold, happily traipsing about in his powder-blue suit and straw hat, is a good choice for Stanley Stupid. Bigger comedy stars would have no doubt stamped their own brand of personality over the top of the character - they would have certainly outshone the rest of the family, whose parts are conspicuously underplayed. I have to assume that this flat acting style was a conscious choice of Landis, who didn't want his cast to mug it up. Landis fans will also be quick to spot his trademark 'See You Next Wednesday' message incorporated into the film, a sight gag he uses to show that he has included material from an unused screenplay he once wrote as a teenager. His other trademark - using fellow directors in cameos - is a little harder to spot, unless you really know your film-makers. Film buffs may recognize Robert Wise as Stanley's neighbor. Wise/Stupid. Do you think that's another Landis in-joke? Look for the re-named London Symphony Orchestra in the final credits.
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