Big Trouble

Tim Allen serves up great ironic voiceover as a fired, freshly divorced Miami Herald columnist narrating a lunatic tale of arms trading and assassination attempts in this screwball chase comedy, directed by Barry Sonnenfeld with the same jazzy air of semi-sophisticated lowbrow absurdity he brought to Get Shorty. Frustrated hit men (Dennis Farina and Jack Kehler), Russian smugglers, nitwit prison escapees (Tom Sizemore and Johnny Knoxville), inept airport security (a remnant of pre-9/11 humor), trigger-happy FBI guys, a blissed-out hobo (Jason Lee) with a Fritos fetish, a smuggled nuclear bomb and Martha Stewart's head all figure into the obviously abridged 85-minute plot. But the fantastic cast of caffeinated comedy kooks--which also includes Stanley Tucci, Rene Russo, and Janeane Garofalo--more than make up for the logical loopholes, which fly by so fast there's no time to think about them anyway. A strong optional purchase. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by director Barry Sonnenfeld, and a compressed "Five Minute Movie" version of the film that actually (and consciously) runs nearly eight minutes. Bottom line: a so-so extras package for a bomb of a film.] (R. Blackwelder) [Blu-ray/DVD Review—Nov. 27, 2018—Kino Lorber, 85 min., PG-13, DVD: $14.95, Blu-ray: $24.95—Making its latest appearance on DVD and debut on Blu-ray, 2002’s Big Trouble features a decent transfer and a DTS-HD 5.1 soundtrack. Extras include audio commentary by director Barry Sonnenfeld. Bottom line: an uneven adaptation of Dave Barry’s comic novel, this is not in the same league with Sonnenfeld’s Get Shorty.]