Rat Race (2001) Canada
Rat Race Image Cover
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Director:Jerry Zucker
Studio:Paramount
Producer:Jerry Zucker, James Jacks, Janet Zucker, Richard Vane, Sean Daniel
Writer:Andy Breckman
Rating:4
Rated:PG-13
Date Added:2006-06-21
ASIN:B00005RYLX
UPC:0097363368441
Price:$9.98
Awards:1 nomination
Genre:Slapstick
Release:2002-01-28
IMDb:0250687
Duration:112
Picture Format:Widescreen
Aspect Ratio:2.35:1
Sound:Dolby
Languages:English
Subtitles:English
Features:Subtitled
Jerry Zucker  ...  (Director)
Andy Breckman  ...  (Writer)
 
Breckin Meyer  ...  Nick Schaffer
Jenica Bergere  ...  Hotel Clerk
Cuba Gooding Jr.  ...  Owen Templeton
Carrie Diamond  ...  Casino Bartender
Douglas Haase  ...  Guy at Bar
Chris Myers  ...  Fox Sportscaster
Kevin Frazier  ...  Fox Sportscaster
Seth Green  ...  Duane Cody
Gloria Allred  ...  Herself
Vince Vieluf  ...  Blaine Cody
Renée Lee  ...  Witness in Crowd
Corinna Harney  ...  Cocktail Waitress (as Corinna Harney Jones)
Jane C. Walsh  ...  Cocktail Waitress
Whoopi Goldberg  ...  Vera Baker
Lanei Chapman  ...  Merrill Jennings
Amy Smart  ...  
Thomas E. Ackerman  ...  Cinematographer
Comments: 563 miles. 9 people. $2 million. 1001 problems!

Summary: Modeled after 1963's It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Jerry Zucker's Rat Race lacks the irreverence of Zucker's 1980 hit Airplane! but has enough chuckles to make it an agreeable time-killer. Like Mad, Mad, Mad..., it employs a huge ensemble of comedy stalwarts, assembled by an eccentric hotelier (pearly-toothed John Cleese) to race from Las Vegas to New Mexico for a $2 million jackpot. With a backstage gambling subplot, Rowan Atkinson's Italian-geek lunacy, Seth Green's slacker antics, and some nicely understated work from SCTV alumnus Dave Thomas, the movie has almost as many highlights as clunkers, and Zucker's embrace of easy gags and traditional slapstick will tickle anyone's old-fashioned funny bone. Other ingredients are hopelessly stale: Whoopi Goldberg's frantic mugging, Cuba Gooding's latter-day Stepin Fetchit, "mature" humor that compromises the movie's broad appeal, and the assumption that crashing vehicles are inherently hilarious. Lamentable decisions, perhaps, but Rat Race maintains a pleasantly altruistic spirit. --Jeff Shannon