LARGER THAN LIFE
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1996 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 6.0 Alternative Scale: **1/2 out of ****
United States, 1996 U.S. Release Date: 11/1/96 (wide) Running Length: 1:32 MPAA Classification: PG (Crude language) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cast: Bill Murray, Tai, Janeane Garofalo, Matthew McConaughey, Linda Fiorentino, Anita Gillette, Pat Hingle, Lois Smith, Keith David, Jeremy Piven Director: Howard Franklin Producers: Richard B. Lewis, John Watson, and Pen Densham Screenplay: Roy Blount Jr. from the story by Pen Densham and Garry Williams Cinematography: Elliot Davis Music: Miles Goodman U.S. Distributor: United Artists
LARGER THAN LIFE is an unremarkable road movie with a slight twist -- Jack Corcoran's (Bill Murray) traveling companion is an 8000-pound elephant named Vera (Tai). The concept -- Jack has five days to transport Vera from the Maryland to California -- isn't loaded with promise, but at least the producers had the good sense to hire Bill Murray. Jack is the kind of irritable, self-absorbed guy that Murray can play perfectly, and the comedian's presence in LARGER THAN LIFE lifts it to a considerably higher level than it might have otherwise attained.
The human-befriends-animal storyline has been worked to death with almost every kind of four-legged (or finned) creature imaginable: dogs, cats, whales, dolphins, seals, polar bears, pandas, and so forth. Now, add an elephant to the list. In most of these films, the spectacle of an amazingly well-trained animal is enough to steal the show from his or her less-interesting homo sapien partner. Not here, though. Murray knows how to keep the spotlight on himself, and only yields it when absolutely necessary.
Murray has certainly done better work. LARGER THAN LIFE can't hold a candle to GHOSTBUSTERS or GROUNDHOG DAY, but it's a lot better than duds like CADDYSHACK. Apparently, Murray did his share of ad-libbing here, which is probably a reason why several of the comic sequences work. Since Murray is simply "being Murray", there isn't a lot of intensive acting going on. As a result, there are long stretches when LARGER THAN LIFE is like watching a standup routine shot on location with a very unusual "straight man".
The story, such as it is, goes something like this: Jack, an East Coast author and motivational speaker, is bequeathed Vera (and a $30,000 debt) by his estranged father, a clown with a traveling circus. Jack doesn't want the animal, but the only people willing to take her off his hands are in California. There's Mo (Garofalo), a zookeeper in San Diego, who wants to send Vera to Sri Lanka as part of a breeding experiment, and Terry (Linda Fiorentino), an animal trainer in L.A., who wants to make Vera a movie star. So, by train, truck, and elephantback, Jack heads west, racing against the clock (there's a five-day deadline) and encountering the requisite assortment of oddball characters along the way.
The film has an interesting and varied cast, but if you're hoping for more than a glimpse of anyone other than Murray or Tai, prepare to be disappointed. No one else, from two of 1996's "hot tickets", Janeane Garofalo and Matthew McConaughey (as a truly irritating, off-the-wall truck driver), to the likes of Pat Hingle (as an old buddy of Jack's father) and Anita Gillette (as Jack's busybody mother), has more than a few token appearances.
LARGER THAN LIFE doesn't offer anything startlingly new or original, although the best gags are worth at least a chuckle. The film opens with Murray mercilessly lampooning self-help and motivational speaking by delivering a buzzword-rich speech at an upholstery convention that culminates in the building of a human pyramid out of attendees. For those who enjoy physical comedy, there's an amusing bit where Jack attempts to mount Vera. ("Okay. Where's the ladder?") For movie aficionados, there's a sendup of SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON, with Murray dressed up like John Wayne, Tai playing the role of Wayne's trusty steed, and the theme from THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN in the background. There are also the obligatory "fish out of water" scenes: the elephant walking down a street in a suburban neighborhood, the elephant running through an airport, and the elephant outside a roadside diner.
LARGER THAN LIFE isn't likely to be around for long. Unless it does unexpectedly well at the box office, it will be swamped by the impending, major fall releases. It's a reasonably innocuous film, and, partly as a result, it's suitable for children. This isn't my notion of top-notch entertainment, but there are worse ways to spend money at a movie theater.
- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@bc.cybernex.net ReelViews web site: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin
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