Saw Rat Race, an ensemble comedy in the vein of Cannonball Run or It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. The idea here is that eccentric gamblers set a prize of two million dollars for the first person to get to a certain city and bet on the outcome of the race. The film is completely sketch-based. One minute we're seeing Rowan Atkinson clown around with Newman, then we're off to see Cuba Gooding Jr interact with a busload of Lucile Ball impersonators. It's mostly a dumb good time.
The film was mostly forgettable. Only a very few of the scenes made me smile at all. The gamblers finding ever-more bizarre things to bet on was usually good. I also enjoyed the Lucies. Seth Green gets into some whimsical hijinks involving a hot air balloon and cows. That was pretty awful. Also John Lovitz (whom I adore) has a fairly tedious and well-telegraphed run-in with WW2 veterans (while he's dressed as Hitler (of course.))
It's completely brainless and kind of gross. I enjoyed the film more or less but it's not without some obvious flaws. A lot of the characters are not given any characterization at all beyond a costume and the skits are sometimes fairly dire, relying on frantic oompah music to carry the scene. Worst of all though, and what makes this film almost unwatchable to modern audiences, is the early 2000s feel-good "comedy" music which is prominently featured. Yes, both Who Let the Dogs Out and Smash Mouth's All Star make appearances. Both. These songs have become such cliches that they'd need to be used ironically nowadays, but they're used sincerely here, the cast bobbing along to the music and smiling as the closing credits roll. It's so guileless.
So, not a very good movie. I enjoyed it more or less, but I think it's best used as an object of scorn now, fit for drunken parties and snide commentary. Ah well, that's fun too.
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