GONE FISHIN'
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1997 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): *
First, the good news. The two leads of GONE FISHIN', Joe Pesci and Danny Glover, mumble so many of their lines that a large portion of the film is incomprehensible. But the audience can hear the rest of the movie. That's bad news.
Although I usually save the last paragraph of my reviews of kids' movies for the thoughts of my 8-year-old, his summary is too precious to hold back. Jeffrey said, "the show was funny, but not enough to make me laugh." He decided the jokes were aimed at the adults and that was why he did not get them. Well, speaking as adult, I laughed about as often as Jeffrey, which was just about never.
Both Pesci and Glover have tremendous talent, but they both share a propensity for signing up to do hopelessly bad comedies. The script by Jill Mazursky and Jeffrey Abrams for GONE FISHIN' alternated between recycled humor, heavy on sight gags (long demolition derbies being particularly popular), and frequent dead time where laughs were not even attempted.
That this DOA flick was not screened to the critics comes as no surprise. Director Christopher Cain's last theatrical release was THE AMAZING PANDA ADVENTURE, which wasn't. The critics were not appreciative of his talents then, and I suspect GONE FISHIN' will be even less well received.
As the film opens, Joe and Gus, played later by Pesci and Glover, are two young kids fishing. Joe is smoking a cigar which he tosses behind him setting off a big fire that ends up shorting out the electricity for an entire city. This setting buildings on fire is a nasty habit that they will keep all of their lives.
The film quickly switches to grown Joe, wearing a "Fish Newark and Die" T-shirt, and Gus heading south to the Florida Everglades for a big fishing trip. The trouble starts when Dekker Massey (Nick Brimble), a con man so notorious that he has swindled 43 women and killed the last one, steals their '68 Barracuda with their old fishing boat in tow.
After the boat breaks off and crashes through a restaurant window, our heroes start pushing the boat on the trailer down the highway. Nothing will stop them. Actually, the two stars give the impression of two idiots playing two idiots. Only because I've seen their better pictures do I know otherwise. An any rate, nothing of their characters here merit seeing.
Rita (Rosanna Arquette) and Angie (Lynn Whitfield) give Joe and Gus a lift. The women are looking for Dekker too and want to try to pick the men's brains to find out what they know. Now, there is a hopeless job.
Along the way, we suffer through one inanity after another. For example, we learn that Gus is such a solid sleepwalker after eating red meat that he will dry his hair with an electric hair dryer, turn on the gas on the fireplace, set his pillow on fire with a lighter, make a phone call, and then walk quite a distance. Glover's wooden performance makes this long sleepwalking scene extremely tedious.
Towards the end of the picture, their fishing idol, Billy "Catch" Pooler (Willie Nelson), comes in almost as an apparition to rescue them. Catch fills them with inspiring quotations. ("Don't forget. The canary sings, but the eagle flies." And that most instructive of all, "Be the one you want to catch.")
Dekker delivers the most accurate line in the movie. "You insignificant little man," Dekker barks at Joe after hearing enough of his drivel. "You've got a big mouth. Now, shut it!" I couldn't have said it better myself.
GONE FISHIN' runs 1:33. It is rated PG for threatened violence. The film would be acceptable for just about any age, but not worth seeing by any. Although my son claims he actually liked it, he laughed very little. Then again, he likes just about everything he sees. I was bored silly by the film so I do not recommend it. A generous one star from me.
**** = A must see film. *** = Excellent show. Look for it. ** = Average movie. Kind of enjoyable. * = Poor show. Don't waste your money. 0 = Totally and painfully unbearable picture.
REVIEW WRITTEN ON: May 31, 1997
Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's.
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