Limp laughs

>> Rat Race isn't as funny as it thinks it is

by MARK SLUTSKY

You know you're in for a ride when a movie opens with a hilarious, animated title sequence. Maybe it'll be another Pink Panther. But maybe it'll be another Mannequin. Rat Race, Hollywood's latest stab at a It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World-style caper comedy, opens with a sequence seemingly calculated to convey a maximum amount of hilarity in the few minutes it lasts. The film's characters, portrayed in collage-style animation, run around and do funny things. The titles and credits dance and wiggle. "This movie's really funny!" they seem to cry desperately, "You're going to have a great time!"

Something about movies that announce their delightfulness so aggressively is kind of off-putting. Rat Race, though not completely unbearable, is no exception. Take the premise, for example, a guaranteed gut-buster: loony casino owner John Cleese devises a hot new attraction for his billionaire clients. He assembles a group of B-list actors--normal people, I mean--tells them where to find a duffel bag containing $2-million, and sends them off to get it, winner take all. Said actors--among them, Breckin Meyer, Amy Smart, Jon Lovitz, Seth Green, Whoopi "Centre Square" Goldberg, Rowan Atkinson, and Cuba Gooding Jr.--then run around, encounter lots of improbable obstacles (flying cows, Nazis), and generally get the audience screaming with laughter.

Although Rat Race has a couple of things in its favour--a quick pace and a merciful 90-minute running time, for example--its total disregard for subtlety chafes. That, and one of the sappiest, lamest endings in recent memory (featuring an appearance by the lead singer of Smash Mouth, no less). But really, why must comedies these days be funny in every way? Why must every aspect of production--music and editing included--be yuk-inducing?

See Rat Race if the premise really, really tickles you. There's a chuckle here and there. But it's not really worth the time or money. For all its vaunted cast, few are really all that funny, unless you consider Whoopi to be a comic genius. Or Breckin Meyer, for that matter. It's kind of sad, actually, how few genuinely funny movies get made nowadays. With a few exceptions, Rat Race represents the best Hollywood has to offer right now in the business of funny. And that's just sad.

Rat Race opens Friday, Aug. 17