Fast Paced Rat Race! (Rat Race (DVD))

Member Name: Kezz360

Product:	Rat Race (DVD)
Date:	30/07/07 (82 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great cast, Very Funny, Keeps you glued to your seat!

Disadvantages: Some people might find it abit silly.

A REVIEW ABOUT THE MOVIE

What would you do if somebody said you would get $2million if you won a race? I know what i'd say, 'convert the currency into british pounds and you're on!'

Yes Rat Race is about a group of people who some might say 'got lucky' and ended up racing to New Mexico to try and win $2million. How did they get involved with that you might ask...well below is a detailed review about this movie and it's characters and how I found the film.

WHOSE IN IT?
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Breckin Mayer - Nick Schaffer
Cuba Gooding Jr. - Owen Templeton
Seth Green - Duane Cody
Vince Vieluf - Blaine Cody
Whoopi Goldberg - Vera Baker
Lanei Chapman - Merrill Jennings
Jon Lovitz - Randall 'Randy' Pear
Kathy Najimy - Beverley 'Bev' Pear
Rowan Atkinson - Enrico Pollini
John Cleese - Donald P. Sinclair
Amy Smart - Tracy Faucet
Dave Thomas - Harold Grisham

It also features Kathy Bates (Misery) as a weird Squirrel lady!

WHATS IT ABOUT?
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It's about 8 people who don't know each other (well apart from Duane and Blaine - brothers, and Vera and Merrill - mother & daughter - so really it's 6 people), who are all staying at the same hotel / casino in Las Vegas. On one particular day, each of them have their go at a fruit machine and when they pull down the lever, each of them win. But, they don't win a jackpot, instead they just win one gold coin with a message on them, 'come to the front desk to receive your prize'. And, of course, each of them in turn go to the front desk to be told they have to be in a certain room by a certain time to receive their prize. Afew are a little sceptical and think it could be a scam but all of them go along to the designated meeting place.

The room is like a lush suite. Nicely decorated, with a bar and a great view of Las Vegas. Everybody meets each other and asks the question of 'do you know what we're doing here?', before Donald Sinclair (John Cleese) enters the room. This guy just reeks of money and success and tells them he is the owner of the hotel/casino and he has a once in a lifetime opportunity for all of the people in the room. He sits them all down on this board room style meeting table and explains to them that he wants them to take part in a race. Obviously there are afew frowns and looks of confusion, so he elaborates.

He says to them, 'what if i told you that there is a locker in Silver City Train Station, New Mexico. Locker number 001. What if i told you that whoever gets to that locker first, gets the contents inside of locker 001. The locker contains one red gym bag, with $2million inside'. He is looked at with shock and suprise. He then gets his assistant, Harold Grisham (Dave Thomas), to issue each of them a contract to sign. He then issues them all a gold key with the locker number 001 on it, and tells them that the key has a tracking device in it so that he knows where abouts everybody is...he then tells them to race. Everybody is a little confused and questions are asked about how legit this race is...he explains it is completely legitimate and again tells them to race!

Sat behind a 2 way mirror are what looks like the entire UN members. But what we, as the viewer, are quick to find out is that these people are actually making bets on who is going to win this race first.

The whole table agrees that this 'race' idea is ridiculous, and they leave the room and mingle outside. They all decide it's a stupid idea and they should just continue their vacations or business trips as they were going to, and forget about the race. But, as they all wait for the lift to come up so they can go back down, you can already see that there are looks of regret on peoples faces...Randy Pear is the first to say that he's going to take the stairs instead of the lift...but of course, we the viewer know exactly what he's up to...he's going to try and win this race! Shortly after, Owen Templeton decides he should take the stairs too...and eventually, everybody realises that the race is infact on!

SO WHOSE WHO?
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Breckin Mayer plays Nick Schaffer, a very important lawyer away on business. Breckin is actually due to catch a flight, but instead he participates in a race to win $2million. He is infact the last of the participants to atcually start the race...he goes to the airport, as planned, and waits for his flight...but while he's sat at the bar, he meets a woman who he soon finds out is a helicopter pilot, and 'ka ching'...he's found his quick ticket to New Mexico. He explains everything to her and she agrees to take him, if they split the money 50/50.

Amy Smart plays Tracy Faucet, a helicopter pilot who ends up flying Nick Schaffer to New Mexico. However, along the way, she takes a detour and decides to go and visit her boyfriend...but what she sees is not something she likes...a womans car outside of his house, and in the back yard, her boyfriend is getting it on with this woman in the pool. Well Tracy freaks out and attacks both of them with her helicopter! Later on, the engine fails so she and Nick have to find another way of getting to New Mexico.

Cuba Gooding Jr. plays Owen Templeton, a football referee who at the time of this race, is hated by nearly every single person in the country. He made a decision at a really important football game the weekend before, that caused a popular team to lose. He is now recognised wherever he goes as being 'the rat referee'. Owen has a hilarious journey across to New Mexico and tries to take a cab there...not knowing that the cab driver is actually taking him somewhere to leave him in the middle of a desert. Why? Well, didn't we establish he was the most hated referee in the country.

Seth Green plays Duane Cody, a guy whose just on a vacation with his brother Blaine Cody, played by Vince Vieluf. Both are serious about winning this money and even go to the extremes of dismantling the airport signals so that nobody can fly out of Las Vegas! Duane is probably the more sensible of the two. Blaine is abit more dense and has trouble talking after he pierced his tongue himself...which by the way, looks badly infected.

Whoopi Goldberg plays Vera Baker, a woman who is meeting her daughter, Merrill Jennings played by Lanei Chapman, for the first time. They meet at the hotel/casino and are quick to depart once they know that they could be the proud owner of $2million in just afew hours if they make it to New Mexico first. They go to great extremes and even steal a rocket car, which sets a new landspeed world record! They even come across a crazy Squirrel Lady (Kathy Bates), who tries to sell them a squirrel...obviously the 2 women say no....but greatly regret it later!

Jon Lovitz plays Randall 'Randy' Pear, a family guy on vacation with his wife Beverley 'Bev' Pear, played by
Kathy Najimy, and his 2 kids. He attends the meeting with Donald Sinclair on his own, and explains to his wife later that he has to New Mexico on his own. She isn't too happy about this and demands that her and the kids go with him too, much to his dissapointment. This family is just comic and really will go to any lengths to try and get this money in New Mexico.

Rowan Atkinson plays Enrico Pollini, a narcoleptic Italian tourist. For those of you that don't know, a narcoleptic person is somebody who overwhelmingly sleeps ALOT throughout the day. It is a real condition. Anyway, Enrico is probably the most enthusiastic person in this race and is a little bit naive sometimes. He is the last person to leave the hotel/casino because he falls asleep on the spot in the lobby! Of course, afew United Nation look-a-likes upstairs in the hotel are quite annoyed at this as they have placed bets that he will win. When he wakes up, he continues the race, and manages to get a really speedy lift of somebody outside of the hotel.

OVERALL OPINION?
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The first time I watched this, I was roaring with laughter. It is so funny. There are so many comic moments in this film, you will cry atleast once with laughter. The cast is great and everyone will recognise atleast one person in this film, probably Rowan Atkinson (aka Mr.Bean).

As with most comedies, the humour can become quite predictable...but with this, it doesn't happen that often. The writers have really gone to town with this scipt, it is just genius.

I have seen this move twice now, and I would recommend it to anybody looking for something fresh and funny.

Admittedly, it does get unrealistic and silly, but it's not stupid. It's just classic comedy that would put a huge smile on my face if ever I was feeling down. This film never appealed to me when it first came out, but when it started being shown on TV, I just decided to give it a go as there was nothing else on...and I did not regret it. It kept me glued as you just want to know who ends up winning this money! Of course, there is a twist at the end, and it's not the predictable twist that you're probably thinking of.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film and I think alot of people would too. It gets quite a high score (for a comedy) on iMDB. If you are a user or member of iMDB, you will know that their rating system is not that generous, even an oscar winnings performance can sometimes only get 7/10...so a 6.3/10 for this film, is very good.

Give a go...it makes you feel like you are involved in the race the whole way through, and you will of course have your favourite to win.

One thing I will say, the ending isn't really...amazing. It's very unrealistic, but that does not stop the film from being the comic genius that it is!

Summary: An all round great film for people of all ages!