FIERCE CREATURES
A film review by Michael John Legeros
Copyright 1997 Michael John Legeros
(Universal)
Directed by Robert M. Young and Fred Schepisi
Written by John Cleese and Iain Johnstone
Cast John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, Michael
Palin, Maria Aitken, Robert Lindsay, Ronnie Corbett,
Carey Lowell, Derek Griffiths, Cynthia Cleese
MPAA Rating "PG-13"
Running Time 93 minutes
Reviewed at Mission Valley Cinemas, Raleigh, NC (21JAN97)
==
Neither sequel nor equal to A FISH CALLED WANDA, this zoo-keeping British comedy reunites the original cast-- and a portion of the original production crew-- with looser, if not downright lazier results. The timing isn't as sharp, the pace isn't as brisk, and the four characters aren't nearly as tight together as an ensemble. Both Michael Palin and Jamie Lee Curtis are wasted, but, hey, that leaves the door wide open for John Cleese and Kevin Kline to steal the show. And they do. Kline actually plays two roles, including his character's father. His younger self is a slightly sillier variation on Otto, his Oscar- winning WANDA role. Cleese treads equally familiar ground with an update of his "Fawlty Towers" television character. His script (co- written with Iain Johnstone) rehashes several better-known Basil bits, which, for the newcomer, should have them in stitches. The seasoned hotel guest, however, may react with less than total hilarity. Sorry, sorry, sorry.
Grade: B-
--
Mike Legeros - Raleigh, NC, USA, Earth legeros@pagesz.net (h) - legeros@unx.sas.com (w) I'm also on the Web! http://www.pagesz.net/~legeros/
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