Rat Race
***.6 BM
Starring: Jon Lovitz, Cuba Gooding Jr, Whoopi Goldberg, Lanai Chapman, Breckin Meyer, Seth Green, Amy Smart, Vince Vieluf, John Cleese, Dave Thomas, Kathy Najimy, Wayne Knight, Rowan Atkinson

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This film looked dumb as hell, and I was expecting virtually nothing from it, but Lovitz made me see it, and I was surprised decently by how much I enjoyed the film overall.

It's completely stupid. John Cleese is a big Vegas guy that gets a bunch of random schmucks together and makes them race to find a couple million dollars in a train station locker somewhere, and then he bets on the outcome with his rich friends. Hijinks ensue. Much like "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" but not nearly as long and without the crucially entertaining "Jonathan Winters beating the shit out of a couple of gas station schmucks" scene.

Lovitz makes the film, as he's just always funny. Rowan Atkinson is a close second, as he's just the weirdest goofball involved, and running away from Wayne Knight and leaping onto a bullet train out of nowhere is dadgum high-larious. Cleese and his goofy gambling exploits are also comedy gold, and Seth Green and Vince Vieluf make a good pair of ceaselessly dumb idiots. I didn't expect to find humor in anything Breckin Meyer or Amy Smart did, but the psychotic lengths Smart's character goes to when she finds her boyfriend screwing around on her are fortunately amusing, too.

There's no artistic merit in this film other than some really good laughs. It's nearly ruined at the end when GODDAMNED SMASHMOUTH shows up again and plays that fucking "All Star" song for the bazillionth movie, but that's at the very end, so you can leave during the credits... that is, if the entertaining little cartoony montage at the beginning didn't leave you thinking there'd be more comic gemstuff at the end, which there wasn't, so don't bother. As soon as Smashmouth starts playing, leave immediately, unless you want to watch everyone stage-dive.

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