Cash Express

Rat Race is one of those eccentric capers in which a bunch of crazy characters (usually played by a whole host of familiar faces) risk life and limb to compete for a fortune; in this case, the prize is $2million dollars stashed in a railway locker in Mexico City, the contestants are those lucky enough to win special tokens from slot machines in the casino belonging to wealthy Las Vegas gambling magnate Donald P. Sinclair (John Cleese), and the rules are simple—whoever gets to the money first keeps it! The formula is as old as the hills, having started back in '63 with It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, and continued through the 60s, 70s and 80s with films like The Great Race, Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, The Cannonball Run and Scavenger Hunt; in less experienced hands, this kind of thing can easily fall flat on its face, but director Jerry Zucker is a man with a degree in zany from the University of Madcap, and with an incredible cast and a script that fires witty one-liners like a belt-fed machine gun, he delivers one of the finest ever examples of this comedy sub-genre. Of course, this kind of comedy is far from sophisticated, a relentless series of zany events and visual gags that escalate in madness as the competitors get closer and closer to their goal, and as such, it isn't going to appeal to everyone (people who think that The Royal Tenenbaums is funny, for example). On the other hand, those of us who can appreciate the magnificent sight of a cow suspended from a hot air balloon or the genius of a Jewish family mistakenly visiting a Klaus Barbie museum will have an absolute blast. Rowan Atkinson is absolutely brilliant as a Latin Mr. Bean with narcolepsy; Kathy Bates is unforgettable as the crazy squirrel woman; Whoopie Goldberg and Lanei Chapman break the land speed record in a rocket car (funnier than it sounds); Vince Vieluf and Seth Green play dumb beautifully; and Amy Smart has a great butt (I know that's not relevant to the comedy, but I just had to mention it). The film loses a point for a rather unsatisfying finalé (matters come to a head at a charity gig headlined by pop rockers Smashmouth—remember them?), but overall this is a fine comedy, one that benefits from excellent repeat value and a whole shed-load of quotable dialogue.

Toilet humour, a segment that would probably get the movie banned in Germany, and Rowan Atkinson. Plenty of reasons to avoid this movie. It didn't start out well and got worse as it progressed. I managed about 40 minutes and then I'd had enough and switched off. Hollywood just can't do decent movies any more. They're either lame, like this one, or they are extremely violent. Spoilers: The reference to concentration camps was in very bad taste and I doubt whether because of it the movie would ever be shown in Germany. And about 30 minutes in there was a little girl with her backside hanging out of a moving car window doing Number Twos because her father refused to stop the car. Who on earth writes this rubbish?

I didn't know I could laugh this often in one sitting. What a great movie. Maybe the ending wasn't the best and I don't know what Siskel and Ebert would think, but this was the funniest movie I have ever seen. You hear people talk about how funny Blazing saddles was. Well, this movie had more laughs in it than hormel has chili. I would love to know what movie packs more laughs than this. I'm sure it compares to the 1st 10 minutes of the new Austin Powers. I know it shares an actor or two. I'll let you know once I've seen them both... Dan Buckley

This movie, for those of you old enough to remember it, will see the similarities to the old Spencer Tracy "It's a Mad Mad Mad World..." But this is a great time for the whole family. It includes a star studded cast, and the typical comedic gags that we have to expect where one of the Zucker boys is involved. One of the greatest things about this movie on DVD vs. seeing it at the theater is the outtake section on the DVD. I am a sucker for outtakes anyway, but once you've seen this film, and then watch this section, it is all the funnier! I also thought this was a great vehicle for certain members of the cast to do show their comedic abilities. Enjoy the film

I haven't seen "It's a Mad ... etc. World" (is it four Mads or five? I can never remember), so it's not fair to make comparisons - but the changes I know about sound as though they're improvements. The sum of money in the original film was $350 000; this time it's $2 million, which (adjusting for inflation) is considerably less. In the original the money was a fifteen-year-old buried treasure; here, it's just money. An eccentric squillionaire has put it in a locker without explanation. WE get an explanation, of sorts, but the racers do not - so there is no romance attached to the prize, which means that all of their actions are PURE expressions of greed. (John Cleese is the squillionaire, and while his cameo in "The World Is Not Enough" proved that he could, with the right material, fail to be funny, he and his coterie of wealthy compulsive gamblers are hilarious here. It's good counterpoint humour, since they're actually the least greedy, most disinterested people involved in the chase.) A criticism levelled at the original was that innocent, well-meaning bystanders got hurt - that it was meant to be a joke when their property was destroyed, but the joke wasn't funny. "Rat Race" avoids being open to the same charge by making the world an even more venal one. The ambulance-chasing lawyer, the live organ courier, the quirky roadside squirrel-seller, the key-cutter, the garage mechanic, the neo-Nazis, the vengeful taxi driver ... all these people have less attractive personalities than any of the racers. Only a few of them are punished, but among them are the only outsiders to be punished at all. (With the exception, I'll admit, of people we never see, like the anonymous owners of cars that are run over in the parking lot.) Whoopi Goldberg plays it straight, which suits her. I can't fault the acting anywhere, but I do wish that Rowan Atkinson hadn't been cast as the loopy, dim-witted Italian (I can't see this picture playing in Italy at all). To be sure, he brings the role off, and he's the only person who could have done so - but he would have been funnier if he'd been allowed to be more intelligent, to have a little more rat cunning hiding beneath the surface. (For half a second, he DOES exhibit cunning: it's by far his funniest moment.) All scenes before the race is announced fall flat. Timing and motivation just weren't there, and I even wondered afterwards if Zucker had handed his establishing scenes to an ungifted underling. But I don't want to carp at a funny film by saying it could have been funnier. Things pick up considerably as soon as John Cleese outlines the central premise; from then on the film is never less than inventive, and even if (for some reason) you don't find it funny, you must admit that those involved at least had the right IDEA about comedy.

From start to finish, it's all laughs. The movie is meant to be wacky and to be really taken seriously. I especially love the part when Jon Lovitz looks like Hitler. It's one of the best popcorn comedies of 2001. Just sit back and have fun. B+, 8/10