Review of Big Trouble (2002) by Edith N — 20 Mar 2007

Okay. Take a deep breath and try to follow this plot.

Eliot Arnold lost his job at the [i]Miami Herald[/i] and now runs a crap ad agency (actually, I thought the campaign idea was pretty funny) and cares for his son, Matt, who must "shoot" Jenny Herk as part of a game called "assassins"; meanwhile, [i]real[/i] assassins are trying to kill her stepfather, Arthur Herk, who buys an atomic bomb from a couple of Russians who employ a guy called Puggy who ends up living in the Herks' backyard and in love with the Herks' maid; they all end up fighting the evil clutches of two morons called Snake and Eddie, who steal the bomb because it looks expensive. Two cops and two FBI agents end up chasing them to the airport, where Snake and Eddie haul Jenny and the bomb onto a low-cost plane to the Bahamas after the bomb has accidentally been triggered; they did have Puggy, but he spots Nina the maid and makes a break for it; Eliot manages to save the day. And there's the hallucinogenic toad and the stupid dog and the obnoxious client . . . .

Did I mention Dave Barry came up with all this? Yeah. I read the book years ago, and it's pretty funny, though not as funny as his columns.

This movie has a bad reputation, and I must admit, the plot is a little implausible. No way is it possible for the blast at the end to be that small. Still, it's [i]funny[/i], and that's what really matters. I've discovered, I think, that I like Tim Allen when he's not really trying to be [i]Tim Allen[/i], if you know what I mean. Also, half the cast is hey-it's-that-guys.

If you want something light, silly, and surreal, this is your movie. It was delayed in its theatrical release due to the whole September 11 thing, but the resemblance is superficial at best. It's also kind of an interesting peek at that world--of special interest is the crap airport security.