Being one of the few people who saw Touchstone Pictures' "Big Trouble" prior to the September 11th attacks (and its postponement), I guess I could understand why its release date was pushed back. After all, the film does deal with a nuclear bomb that gets activated aboard a plane full of passengers. However, unlike the action-packed (and relatively serious-toned) "Collateral Damage," "Big Trouble" is a light-hearted comedy that deserves to be classified amongst Hollywood's other ensemble pieces and not carnage-driven blockbusters like "Damage."
"Big Trouble" focuses on a mysterious suitcase that brings together a variety of Miami citizens, including: a newspaper reporter-turned-advertising executive (Tim Allen), his troubled son (Ben Foster), an unhappy housewife (Rene Russo), two police officers (Patrick Warburton and Janeane Garofalo), two FBI agents (Omar Epps and Heavy D) and two street thugs (Tom Sizemore and Johnny Knoxville). As the suitcase gets passed around from dumb to even dumber convicts, a handful of innocent Miami citizens are brought together to save the world before the deadly weapon goes off.
For a character-driven movie like "Big Trouble" to work it needs a strong, entertaining cast to keep the audience's attention. After all, ensemble situation comedies focus on two things-- the ensemble and the situations. Luckily for the film, casting director Ronna Kress chose the right people to carry it. Allen, like always, is both funny and personable, and adults will be able to relate to his 'divorced dad just struggling not to let his son down' attitude he carries throughout the film. Similarly, teens will be able to relate to Foster as the angst-ridden teen rebelling against authority just to get attention.
Even the supporting cast of "Big Trouble" manages to get a few laughs, with Jason Lee's performance as the tree-loving, Jesus-look-a-like Puggy stealing the film every chance given. Patrick Warburton's monotone performance as Officer Walter Kramitz works to perfection given the deadpan punchlines his character delivers, and Dennis Farina is simply hilarious as the irate hit man who just wants to get out of Miami.
Unfortunately, while "Big Trouble" may have a cast of talented comedians that keeps the audience's attention, screenwriters Robert Ramsey and Matthew Stone's adaptation of Dave Berry's novel is so lose on plot that the film is far from their best work. Unlike Berry's novel, which is rich with quirky observations, "Big Trouble"'s transition to film comes off a bit chaotically. Though the film tries to be "Pulp Fiction"-esque, interweaving separate storylines to come together for one big finale, most of the movie comes across as nothing more than a bunch of characters running around. While this is partly to blame because of the film's short running time-- a mere 85 minutes-- it's also because of the fact Sonnenfeld tries to cram just too much into the comedy. By including frivolous subplots that he doesn't have nearly enough time to develop, Sonnenfeld not only causes viewers to not care about the romance or the 'engaging' father-son story in the film, but also to grow bored during these semi-serious moments.
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