Thursday, July 5, 2012

RAT RACE (2001)

Mildly amusing IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD remake. This time, instead of the pre-death ravings of a dying Jimmy "Smiler" Durante, it's John Cleese as a giant-toothed Las Vegas high roller who stages a race (for his high roller friend's amusements) between six strangers. The contestants are picked at random by slot machine tokens then taken to a penthouse where they are explained the rules of the game: here are some identical keys, we're now in Las Vegas and in a locker at the Silver City, NM train station there's $2 million in cash...Go!

Of course, it wouldn't be much of a movie if the participants acted logically so right off the bat they're acting like fucking idiots and everything but the kitchen sink is thrown into this movie. You got a rocket car, a squirrel-loving serial killer, Nazis, Newman, Hitler's car, hookers, a flying cow, a busload of Lucille Ball impersonators, a biker gang, a monster truck, a narcoleptic idiot, a psychotic helicopter pilot, a transplant heart, a hot air balloon and even goddamn Smash Mouth.

Overall, RAT RACE is a fun film.  It's an innocent enough time-waster that never pushes the envelope or shows any real imagination, but still provides a few smiles.
Map of world on the side of the cow.