THE STUPIDS
A film review by Michael John Legeros
Copyright 1996 Michael John Legeros
(New Line)
Directed by John Landis
Written by Brent Forrester, based on characters created by Harry
Allard and James Marshall
Cast Tom Arnold, Jessica Lundy, Bug Hall, Alex McKenna, Mark
Metcalf, Matt Keeslar, Frankie Faison, Christopher Lee,
Bob Keeshan
MPAA Rating "PG"
Running Time 94 minutes
Reviewed at The Carmike 7, Raleigh, NC (30AUG96)
==
Director John Landis is back at it, still light years away from the comic masterpieces of NATIONAL LAMPOON'S ANIMAL HOUSE, THE BLUES BROTHERS, AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, and TRADING PLACES, but obviously having a high time adapting Harry Allard and James Marshall's series of children's books. The central joke here is that Stanley Stupid and his family take *everything* at face value. When their trash is missing from the curb cans, they think somebody stole it. When Dad (Tom Arnold) discovers the city dump, he thinks he's uncovered the crime of the century. When the kids (Bug Hall and Alex McKenna) can't find their father anywhere in the house, they think he's been kidnapped. And so on.
Though it ultimately lives up to its title, THE STUPIDS is dumb fun for, oh, about an hour. The cast has enormous enthusiasm and the costumes (and some sets) are relentlessly sunny. (Kids would like the latter, if this were a movie for kids. I'm not sure if it is.) The cheerfully chaotic plot is one of the most unpredictable in recent memory, adding arms dealers, space aliens, and a postal conspiracy into the mix. Film fans will also enjoy the director's trademark in-jokes, from "see you next Wednesday" to the casting of prominent directors in cameo roles. (That's David Cronenberg as Stanley's old boss and Robert Wise as the neighbor. You find the rest.)
What's missing is a better attention to detail. Though the sloppy editing is entirely annoying-- *must* they cut away in the middle of a musical number?-- the most glaring gaffe is the film's failure to adhere to a consistent set of rules regarding exactly how this Stupid universe is supposed to behave. Other people, places, and things are allowed to act as goofy as the title characters do and that's a mistake. The core contrast between smart and stupid-- the very essence of what the jokes are about-- is undermined and that's no good. This is one movie that might be funnier if it tried to be less funny. Trust in the Lloyd.
Grade: C+
--
Mike Legeros - Raleigh, NC
legeros@nando.net (h) - legeros@unx.sas.com (w)
Visit me in MOVIE HELL
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