| reviews & features | by movie | by theater | film specials | hot links |

Almost Heroes

I can almost see why director Christopher Guest would want to go for mass appeal with a dumb Chris Farley movie after tackling better but less commercial comedy in Waiting for Guffman. I can almost wonder why the This Is Spinal Tap vet doesn't apprehend the difference between "clever" and "stupid" in this completely stupid tale of two explorers (played by Farley and Friends' Matthew Perry) in a race with Lewis and Clark to reach the Pacific Ocean. I can almost understand why people miss Farley, even though he's never been in anything funnier than a five-minute skit. I can almost find sad irony in watching Farley playing a fat, goofball explorer chug a bottle of whiskey and pass out. I can almost buy Perry as a stiff, aristocratic, but ultimately just as bumbling explorer. I can almost understand why they keep putting members of the Friends cast in movies that are always sure disasters. And when I see these movies, I can almost wish I were at home watching Friends. I can almost believe that Perry and Farley have a smidgen of chemistry together. I can almost laugh when Farley falls down (because, you see, he's fat). I can almost pretend I don't see every "joke" a-comin' round the mountain. I can almost stay awake.

-- Mark Bazer