THE STUPIDS
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1996 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 7.0 Alternative Scale: *** out of ****
United States, 1996 U.S. Release Date: 8/30/96 (wide) Running Length: 1:30 MPAA Classification: PG (Nothing offensive) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cast: Tom Arnold, Jessica Lundy, Bug Hall, Alex McKenna, Mark Metcalf, Matt Keeslar, Frankie Faison, Christopher Lee, Bob Keeshan Director: John Landis Producer: Leslie Belzberg Screenplay: Brent Forrester based on characters created by James Marshall and Harry Allard Cinematography: Manfred Guthe Music: Christopher Stone U.S. Distributor: New Line Cinema
THE STUPIDS is a pleasant surprise: a comedy about dumb characters that doesn't insult the audience's intelligence. Unlike such recent offerings as DUMB AND DUMBER, THE BRADY BUNCH MOVIE, and KINGPIN, John Landis' brand of humor doesn't rely on flatulence jokes, double entendres, or sexual innuendo. THE STUPIDS is relatively clean, entirely suitable for family viewing, and much funnier than countless films with harsher MPAA ratings.
Brent Forrester's script is a Machiavellian masterpiece of misdirection, misrepresentation, and mayhem. And be forewarned -- appearances can be deceiving. Despite the title, this film is going to appeal more to the thinking viewer than someone who prefers to sit back and laugh at mindless gags. The best aspect of THE STUPIDS is seeing events from two perspectives -- that of a "normal" person and that of our intrepid heroes, a family so dense that, put together, their combined IQs would have trouble reaching the triple-digit level.
With a vacuous affability, Tom Arnold plays Stanley Stupid, the good-natured head of the Stupid clan. Decked out in an outdated plaid sportscoat and straw hat, Stanley and his wardrobe both appear stranded in an earlier decade. His wife, Joan (Jessica Lundy), and children, Buster (Bug Hall) and Petunia (Alex McKenna), are just as intellectually dim and fashion impaired. Joan looks like she just stepped out of an episode of LEAVE IT TO BEAVER.
The story, which involves conspiracies to take over the world and a possible alien invasion, begins innocently enough. Stanley goes out one morning to find his curbside trash cans empty. Someone has stolen the garbage again! Unlike in the past, however, he's no longer going to sit back and allow this sort of thing to continue. So, several nights later, after setting the bait, he hides in the bushes and waits. When a huge truck comes along and the men inside take not only his garbage, but that of his neighbors, Stanley reaches a stunning conclusion: this is a conspiracy of global proportions. Someone is draining the world of one of its most valuable resources: garbage. A typically illogical leap leads Stanley to connect this latest caper to a scheme he uncovered years ago while working for the Postal Service, where thousands of letters never reached their destinations because they were being diverted to a mysterious Mr. Sender. The only evidence of this tampering was a message stamped on the envelope: "Return to Sender." Soon, the Stupids are hunting down this dangerous enemy, overcoming obstacles by relying on "techniques that defy description."
Somehow, Stanley and his family become involved with a pair of illegal arms dealers (Mark Metcalf and Matt Keeslar), a meek museum curator who has the misfortune of being named Sender (Bob Keeshan, best known as Captain Kangaroo), and a janitor called Lloyd (Frankie Faison) whom they mistakenly believe to be God. During the course of their incredible series of misadventures, they get trapped in a planetarium, are tracked by veteran assassins, and visit a television studio. While there, Stanley appears on a talk show where he gets to explain, in song, how he's his own grandfather.
Done in a style that recalls the TV series spoof GET SMART, THE STUPIDS is more likely to provoke chuckles than uncontrollable bursts of laughter, but the wit involved in constructing this screwball comedy is undeniable. Even at a slim ninety minutes, the running length is probably a little too long, but, for the most part, THE STUPIDS is fresh and energetic. Stupid humor like this requires a smart audience, and it's probably necessary to be a member of Mensa to untangle all the relationships revealed in Stanley's wacky musical number, "I'm My Own Grandpaw."
Director John Landis (THE BLUES BROTHERS, AMAZON WOMEN ON THE MOON), who has never been one to make conventional movies, manages to inject several viciously satirical sequences into the film. THE STUPIDS pokes fun at action movie heroes (and does so in a far more effective manner than Arnold Schwarzenegger's bloated LAST ACTION HERO), late night TV talk shows, and afternoon tabloid programs. There's a delicious fantasy sequence with Christopher Lee playing the Stupids' vision of Sender. And there are cameos by film makers David Cronenberg, Atom Egoyan, Robert Wise, and Norman Jewison, as well as centerfold- turned-personality Jenny McCarthy.
THE STUPIDS is loaded (if not overloaded) with all sorts of humor - - everything from satire and wordplay to slapstick. Not a moment goes by when something amusing isn't happening, even if it's taking place in the background (for example, when Stanley outlines Sender's plan, take a look at the notes in the margins of his master diagram). THE STUPIDS will be seen in different ways by different people, but one thing is abundantly clear: the film makers deserve congratulations for coming up with something this diabolically clever.
- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@bc.cybernex.net ReelViews web site: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin
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