tlavideo.com

Review

Don't expect witty bon mots. Don't expect amusing banter between well-drawn characters. Don't even expect a collection of puns and toilet jokes to make you groan. What you get with Rat Race, director Zucker and writer Andy Breckman's broad, extravagant, did-we-mention-over-the-top reworking of Stanley Kramer's classic It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is laughs. Good ones, bad ones, hilarious ones, hysterical ones, the kind that last for a split second, the kind that seem to last for hours. The premise is basically the same: A group of strangers come together to locate a small fortune in cash; the ensuing race spells disaster for all. With an under-two-hours running time, there's less character development than there was in World, but just as many indignities suffered, and therefore laughs. Among the cast are Goldberg as a mother reuniting with her daughter; Gooding as a football referee trying to escape a bad call; Green and the hilarious Vieluf as con artist brothers; Cleese as the hotel owner who instigates it all; and Najimy and Lovitz as a married couple on vacation with the kids. Breckman's screenplay isn't as fluid as it could be, and a lot of this borders on the ridiculous-to-stupid end of the comedy scale, but he's created some of the funniest set pieces to be seen in a movie in years. Whether it's the hysterical scene of Lovitz and Hitler's car or Gooding coping with a busload of Lucy imitators (if you ask Lucy who? shame on you), Rat Race has only one purpose in mind: to make you laugh. And boy does it succeed.