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Wow, an all-star cast of second tier stars! That’s what I always hope for in a movie! Well not really, but I had no part in the casting of this movie (I would have liked to use the old casting couch on Amy Smart though). As to the movie and the plot, it is indeed a race. Wealthy casino owner Donald Sinclair (John Cleese from The World Is Not Enough) wants to attract all the high rollers to his Vegas casino by offering unique betting opportunities. The first unique betting opportunity is to get six contestants to race to a prize of 2 million dollars that is stored in a locker in Silver City, NM. Before the race the moviemakers actually told us a little bit about each of the contestants. The groups are: Merrill Jennings (Lanei Chapman) and her biological mother Vera Baker (Whoopi Goldberg, Monkey Bone); Nick Shaffer (Breckin Meyer, The Insider) and later a new friend by the name of Tracy (Amy Smart); the Cody brothers Blaine (Vince Vieluf) and Duane (Seth Green, America's Sweethearts); NFL referee Owen Templeton (Cuba Gooding Jr. from Pearl Harbor); a narcoleptic Enrico (Rowan Atkinson); and Randy Pear (Jon Lovitz, Cats & Dogs) who is on a family vacation with his wife and two kids. So they are all off to claim the money where they have hilarious adventures that include a lot of Lucys, Nazis, police, ex-boyfriends, the squirrel lady, a flying cow, bikers, a jet powered race car, and many other strange people and circumstances. Jerry Zucker directs all these fine actors and actresses in Rat Race. Screenplay credits go to Andrew Breckman. Other players worth mentioning are Kathy Najimy, Dave Thomas, Silas Weir Mitchell, and Dean Cain. Rat Race has lots of funny moments, but also misses the mark plenty of other times. So it’s not a laugh-a-minute movie, but rather a laugh-an-every-other-minute film. Before I give the rating I will mention that there is no nudity. At last, the rating for Rat Race is seven couches out of the usual ten. Bye bye.
Last updated: Saturday, October 28, 2006 05:37:39 PM Click Here to get back into frames.
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