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Disney
usually scores big when it comes to animated flicks, and
deservedly so. But when it comes to live-action
comedies...well, they suck. Of course, there are exceptions
like "The Santa Clause" and the underrated remake of
"That Darn Cat" (maybe it's just me), but more often
that not they produce lame-o comedies like "Operation Dumbo
Drop" and "The Princess Diaries." This is
another film to add to that list.
Cuba Gooding, Jr. is an incredible actor, but like most
serious actors he wants to prove to his audience that he has
range. Comedic actors like to prove that they can be serious
and dramatic actors like to prove that they can be funny.
Gooding definitely has potential for comedy--anyone who has seen
his appearances on Leno and Letterman knows that he has a
great sense of humor--but doing silly, broad comedies
like this is not going to help him reach that potential.
Gooding simply makes a fool out of himself, in his most
over-the-top performance up-to-date. But then again, there
isn't really another way to do this sort of comedy.
Gooding plays Ted Brooks, a second-generation dentist who's so
popular around the Miami area that his face is plastered on
every bus. One day he gets a notice in the mail of
his mother's death. That's when his foster mother breaks
the news that he's adopted. He travels to Alaska to receive
his inheritance, which turns out to be a team of sled dogs.
Living in Miami--where the temperature never goes below
70--he's a complete fish-out-of-water and...he hates dogs!
Before he's about to take a plane back to Miami, he wants to
find out who his real father is. To his surprise, his Dad
turns out to be a big, brawny, white sled dog owner named
Thunder Jack (James Coburn).
OK, so the movie is somewhat harmless and I did get a few laughs.
In one scene, he feeds the dogs a mish-mash of organs from
different animals called "slump." He comments,
"In Miami, we call this hot dogs." And there's a
funny line where Gooding's mother receives the news that his
father is white, and she replies, "No wonder you're so
obsessed with Michael Bolton." Bolton, by the way, has
a cameo in the film. I guess Vanilla Ice's phone was
busy. Speaking of musicians, could somebody tell Sisqo's
agent to stop casting him in movies? I think he is, by far,
at the bottom of the barrel in the musicians-who-wanna-be-actors
department. And he's only done like two movies!
The story is completely predictable, and other than a few
witty one-liners, so is the humor. Count how many times
Gooding gets dragged across the snow by the team of sled dogs.
Haha, I didn't see that coming. And of course we have the
obligatory dog-bites-man-in-rear-end gag. There was this kid
in the back of the theater--probably about five or six--who was
laughing hysterically, but that's just the point. Anyone was
has passed the first grade isn't going to find this funny!
The Alaskan woman who plays Gooding's love interest is a fox!
So if any of you fathers get dragged to see this clunker--at least
you have some eye candy! This is not the worst Disney comedy
ever made--far from it--but you should still avoid it if you can.
-- Matt
( 2 out of 4 pops )
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