Review of Larger Than Life (1996) by Johnny T — 11 Jul 2014

This was a disappointment. Though Larger Than Life tries so hard to please, the fact that it proves a sad waste of all the talents involved lands it firmly on the wrong side of likeable. Murray did his share of ad-libbing here, which is probably a reason why several of the comic sequences work. Since Murray is simply 'being Murray', there isn't a lot of intensive acting going on. It's hard watching a comic of Bill Murray's talents get upstaged by a bored-looking elephant. The ending is one of unearned sentiment, and it's hard to imagine what attracted Murray and a number of then unknown thesps star in this transparently thin material. It's not even that the film is bad, just so inconsequential. Matthew McConaughey (in a gig he fulfilled before his A Time to Kill hype) is momentarily funny as a long-distance trucker on speed, but his shtick, which was expanded mid-production, gets no funnier with extended screen time. Murray does have one reasonably amusing scene in which he mounts and rides the elephant, but otherwise the laughs are hard to find. This is one of Bill Murray's least enjoyable (and gimmickiest) experiments. Hopefully, this is one that even the elephant will manage to forget.

VERDICT: "Not So Hot" - [Negative Reaction] These films are truly terrible films. They are not the worst things ever made, but they are definitely awful and should not be seen by anyone. (Films that are rated 1.5 or 2 stars).