RAT RACE (2001)

RAT RACE (2001)

Tagline: 563 miles. 9 people. $2 million. 1001 problems!

(Action, Comedy, Slapstick) [PG-13]

I can do whatever I want. I'm eccentric.

In this one, a superrich man named Donald P. Sinclair decides to run a contest for his rich friends to bet on. The idea is that 6 groups of people based on gold coins they won from slot machines will all race to a city in New Mexico to open a locker containing $2 million dollars. There are no rules on getting there, but Sinclair did ground all the flights out of Vegas (where they all are) that could have gone to New Mexico. This means each group of 6, or singular person in some cases must find a way to get to New Mexico by another means. Things like helicopters, land speed record vehicles, hot air balloons, etc. end up being used as craziness ensues. 

I will say that this movie is loaded with what now would be considered a lot of actors and actresses who were in their prime but may not be so much these days. Actors like Cuba Gooding Jr. (who plays Owen Templeton a referee that is suddenly famous for a coin toss incident on national TV) haven’t had a much work or mainstream fame as in the past, but are still landing roles. Seth Green is in this as Duane Cody but now has been relegated to mostly voice work in Hollywood. Lanei Chapman probably best known for WHITE MEN CAN’T JUMP is still getting pretty decent roles. She plays opposite Whoopie Goldberg as Merrill Jennings. Whoopie plays Vera in this. She actually has been getting roles lately including a role as Mother Abagail Freemantle in the new THE STAND TV series. Jon Lovitz is still around, but not doing anything major and the same can be said for Kathy Najimy. Anyway, you get the idea. This thing is loaded with stars and all of them fit well in this movie. Even John Cleese is in this and he was a giant in his day comedy-wise probably best known for being in Monty Python movies. Trying to cover all the major actors and actresses in this movie would take a few pages, so I am going to move on. 

The good – I liked the cast for this movie for the most part. The pacing and situational humor were top notch. I get how some people would be offended by this thing by today’s standards, but that is also part of its charm. It just doesn’t give a crap and I kind of love that because this movie does it in such a way that it’s not trying to be overtly offensive, it’s just trying to be funny. There is plenty of laugh out loud scenes in this movie and the “race” aspect of the film does a good job of keeping the audience fully engaged. I also like that this movie seems to be an homage to  IT’S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD  from 1963. That movie was over 3 hours long. This one manages to clock in at just under 2 hours. When it comes to comedies, I think having things move along quickly gives the movie more of a chance to maintain laughter. 

The bad – Like in any comedy you always run the chance of a swing and a miss on some of the comedy. Because RAT RACE is less dialog-driven than “situational” driven, some of the situations fall flat. One instance includes a moment when John Lovitz and Kathy Najimy run into a Nazi museum and end up stealing Hitler’s car. The entire sequence here feels a bit tacky and out of place even for as wild as this movie is. There is also a scene where Amy Smart ( who plays Tracy)is pissed at her boyfriend for cheating and immediately starts screwing with him and his vehicle while flying a helicopter. The scene is funny as hell, but I find it odd that no cops showed up at this moment when in every other scene where you would expect a cop to show up, there was one. It’s just a bit inconsistent. 

Unlike AIRPLANE this movie's comedy isn’t driven by dialog leaving almost all of the comedy up to the events taking place. Sections of the movie are just not that funny or interesting. However,  for the most part, this is a fun movie to watch and that is undeniable.

It’s pretty fantastic in regards to entertainment and for those reasons, I have to give it a 4 out of 7. It’s better than a 3, but for me, I am just not a huge fan of some of the cast and directing choices. I also think it's possible the whole movie might have been better as a cartoon. 

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