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I waited impatiently for well over a year to see this movie -- ever since I heard that it was being made. I counted down the days before its release last year -- until September 11 caused the filmmakers to postpone it. I couldn’t wait for it to be released in February. But by the time I had the chance to see it, its short stop in the theaters was over. So I had to wait for it to come out on DVD. I rushed down to the local Blockbuster the first weekend, only to find that every copy was gone. And it took several weekends of rushing to Blockbuster until I finally went extra early on a Friday evening and found one last copy. Finally!
As I stood in line, my precious DVD in hand, I thought to myself in horror, What if it sucks? What if I’ve been building it up in my head for this long, and it really is crap?
But it didn’t suck at all. In fact, it was even funnier than I expected.
Big Trouble, based on the novel by Dave Barry (see my review), has a fast-paced, complicated plot that works as well on screen as it does in print. The story is like a knot in a shoelace -- when you try to pull on it, you just end up with more knots. There’s an advertising guy (Tim Allen) whose son (Ben Foster) is supposed to shoot a girl (Zooey Deschanel) with a squirt gun as a part of a game at school. Meanwhile, a pair of hit men (Jack Kehler and Dennis Farina) are after the girl’s step-dad (Stanley Tucci) – and his wife (Rene Russo) couldn’t care less. There’s a man (Jason Lee) living in their tree house who works for two Russians who sell weapons to the step-dad. Two small-time crooks (Tom Sizemore and Johnny Knoxville) stumble over the deal and decide to get a piece of the action. And then a pair of cops (Janeane Garofalo and Patrick Warburton), a pair of FBI agents (Omar Epps and Heavy D), and a giant toad get thrown in for a little extra fun.
Big Trouble is a wonderfully goofy movie -- what else would you expect from Dave Barry? Sure, some of the gags miss the mark a bit, but there are plenty more where those came from. But be warned -- this movie is not for the weak-humored. If you can’t handle silliness, steer clear. If, however, you love the occasional downright goofiness, you’re in for a treat.
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