Fierce Creatures

Reported re-shoots and script rewrites seem to have taken the bite out of this eagerly-awaited but disappointing comedy that reunites A Fish Called Wanda's John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline and Michael Palin. Cleese's character is charged with boosting profits at a quaint British zoo. But while one minute he insists that it be stocked with nothing but killer beasts (the public's fascination with violence, he reasons, will be good for business), the next, he's secretly harboring a cute and cuddly menagerie (a confusing change). Palin, too, is underutilized as a loquacious zoo worker who protests attempts to commercialize the zoo. But Kline is his hilarious, untamed self in the dual role of a Murdoch-like media mogul and his useless son. Problems aside, it's a joy to see this great comedy team unleashed again. A strong optional purchase. (K. Lee Benson)