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Harmless laughs with Nothing to Lose by JOANNE LATIMER Nothing to lose? What about two hours of your summer? And eight bucks--for another buddy film? You don't need many buddy films a year to get your fill of insult-swapping, pissing contests and bonding born of necessity. Fled did the job poorly in 1996, souring the genre for 1997. Nevertheless, directly on the heels of Fled and Men in Black comes Nothing to Lose, a mixed-race buddy film about two guys on the lamb. The marketing monolith that is "Men in Black"--including a film, Ray-Bans and a rap song--left little oxygen this summer for another mixed-race buddy film. But Nothing to Lose was released anyway and this comedy does what it can to make amends for its kind.
There's a look-alike pair of criminals on the loose ripping off gas stations and their team dynamic mimics Lawrence and Robbins: the white guy has more depth and logic, the black guy has street smarts. Oedekerk upends this convention by making Lawrence a technology junkie who can't find work while showing Robbins as a technophobe who can't operate his digital toys. Nothing to Lose approaches the issue of social disparity between the two leads with a rubber mallet. A goofball comedy like this one isn't the place for subtle camera work to make the statements, like fast exchanges of knowing glances. The statements and scenes about race come exactly when and how you'd imagine--in broad strokes that feel genuine, but not heavy enough to spoil the mood. Nothing to Lose opens this Friday, July 18. See film listings for showtimes |
Mixed doubles
Did I say comedy? It's a collection of sight gags. The film clips along at a good pace, never surprising you with its ingenuity, but never really leaves you laugh-free for more than four or five minutes. The writer/director is Steve Oedekerk from Ace Ventura 2: When Nature Calls, so don't expect the kind of social satire that you get in The Player just because Tim Robbins is one of the stars. Robbins plays Nick Beam, an advertising executive with a seemingly adoring wife (Kelly Preston) and an eccentric boss. Nick goes into shock when he learns that Ann is having an affair. While driving around in his 4x4 like a grief-stricken zombie, Nick gets carjacked by T. Paul (Martin Lawrence), who didn't bargain on mugging such a resistant victim. Nick kidnaps T. Paul and heads for the desert, where the two have to wrangle rednecks, robbers, cops, waitresses and digital technology.