Lake Placid

In Lake Placid, David E. Kelley (creator of Picket Fences and Ally McBeal) takes advantage of a genre where plotting isn't particularly vital and gives his goofy characters plenty of room in which to work. The result is a sometimes-hilarious insult comedy occasionally interrupted by a monster movie about a massive crocodile wreaking havoc at a mountain lake. Most of the gags come from the clash of tightly-wound urbanites (Bridget Fonda as a paleontologist and Oliver Platt as an eccentric millionaire mythology professor) and laconic locals (Bill Pullman as a Fish & Game investigator and Brendan Gleeson as the sheriff). When the put-downs work, they work wonderfully, particularly when Platt and Gleeson square off. In fact, the entire premise is basically an excuse to get these four characters together so they can snipe at each other, which might disappoint genre fans looking for chills and thrills. As clever as Kelley's writing can be, the film is basically a one-joke effort: how fast viewers tire of that one joke will go a long way toward determining their enjoyment. Optional. (S. Renshaw)